Indian shares rise to 10-week high; HDFC Bank leads after strong Q1 growth
- Nifty 50 rose 0.66% to 24,430.35, while the BSE Sensex added 0.67% to 78,285.07
Indian shares advanced to a 10-week high, driven by HDFC Bank's strong quarterly update and lower crude oil prices, boosting overall market sentiment.
- HDFC Bank's strong quarterly business update.
- Impact of lower crude oil prices on market sentiment.
- Key factors driving India's market rally.
Indian shares advanced on Monday, led by heavyweight HDFC Bank on a strong quarterly business update, while lower crude oil prices also aided sentiment.
The benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.66% to 24,430.35, while the BSE Sensex added 0.67% to 78,285.07. They have risen 2.4% each in four sessions, closing at a 10-week high.
A narrowing rainfall deficit, drop in oil prices amid easing Middle East tensions and signs of foreign investors re-assessing their India positioning after a prolonged period of selling have also supported market sentiment.
“A drop in oil prices to February levels should enable the large cap indexes to rise to February levels as well,” said Prateek Agrawal, managing director and chief executive officer at Motilal Oswal AMC.
The prospect of lower energy prices reducing inflation risks supported stocks in Europe and the U.S. too.
Shares of India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank climbed 3.6% after it reported a 15.4% increase in gross advances during the June quarter. The lender contributed about 56% to the benchmark Nifty 50’s gains on Monday.
Several other lenders also gained after sharing business updates over the weekend. IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank and Karur Vysya Bank jumped 3.6%, 3.4%, and 4.2%, respectively. Kotak Mahindra Bank, meanwhile, lost 3.9% after posting softer growth for the April-June period, capping gains for the bank index, which rose 0.6%.
State-owned lenders dropped 0.9%, marking a third session of losses.
“PSU banks continue to outpace private sector banks in terms of credit growth, but deposit franchise of private banks is clearly better than PSUs,” analysts at Macquarie said.
Fourteen of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.
The IT index lost 0.6% as investors awaited the start of first quarter earnings reports later this week. The sector is expected to announce subdued earnings due to AI-driven pricing pressures, weak client spending and geopolitical turmoil.