Sensex Up 232 Points, Nifty Near 19,600 Ahead Of RBI Policy Meet; Midcap, Pharma Stocks Outperform

Indian markets witnessed modest gains on Monday ahead of RBI's three-day monetary policy meeting where a 'status quo' in repo rate is majorly expected. Despite mixed global cues, domestic equities saw broad-based buying with healthcare and IT stocks driving the performance. Midcap stocks also outperformed. India's volatility index (VIX) settled up by 5.01%.

Sensex ended at 65,953.48, up by 232.23 points or 0.35%, while Nifty 50 finished at 19,597.30 higher by 80.30 points or 0.41%. BSE Midcap stocks climbed by 168.36 points, while Smallcap index picked up by 91.41 points.

In terms of sectoral indices, Bank Nifty dipped by 42 points to end at 44,837.50. However, IT and Pharma stocks outperformed their counterparts on the BSE and NSE.

BSE Healthcare stocks zoomed by 448 points, while IT index advanced by 328.51 points. Auto and Capital Goods ended at a gap-up 112 points each. BSE Bankex shed nearly 103 points.

On the latest market performance, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "The Indian market began the data-centric week with modest gains, primarily propelled by strong performances in the pharma and IT sectors. Global markets portrayed a mixed picture, with US futures exhibiting positivity in response to a moderation in bond yields, while European markets experienced declines due to weak economic data. Caution prevailed in the market due to the anticipation of upcoming inflation data and the RBI's monetary policy."

Also, Ajit Mishra, SVP - of Technical Research, Religare Broking said, "Markets started the week on a firm note and gained nearly half a per cent, in continuation to Friday's rebound. After the initial uptick, Nifty remained range-bound for most of the session however buying in select heavyweights kept the tone positive. Meanwhile, the sectoral indices traded mixed wherein pharma and IT extended their prevailing positivity while metal and banking closed subdued. Amid all, decent performance from the midcap basket assured healthy market breadth."

Top gainers on Sensex were -- M&M, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, and Infosys. While SBI, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, and Bajaj Finance were top laggards. NBFC Authum Investment & Infrastructure stock price was the stock of the day by hitting 20% upper circuit.

Of the total stocks listed on BSE, 2025 stocks advanced, 1661 stocks declined and 201 stocks were unchanged. Meanwhile, 299 stocks have hit a new 52-week high, and 59 stocks struck their fresh 52-week lows. By the end of the August 7th trade, BSE-listed firms' market cap stood at more than Rs 305.39 lakh crore.

Further, at the interbank forex market, the Indian rupee halted its four-day losing spree, to end at 82.74 against the US dollar on Monday. Overall, the rupee traded in a narrow range between 82.7950 to 82.7025, owing to demand from importers and worries heightening over elevated crude prices. In the previous session, the rupee closed at 82.84 against the US dollar.

RBI's three-day meeting for August monetary policy will begin on Tuesday (August 8) and the outcomes will be announced on Thursday (August 10).

In the previous policy, RBI opted for a status quo in policy repo rate at 6.50% for the second time in a row. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate remains unchanged at 6.25% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%.