The key equity benchmarks ended with robust gains on Friday. The Nifty settled above the 24,350 mark. All sectoral indices on the NSE ended in green with PSU bank, media, and auto shares gaining the most.

As per provisional closing, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 819.69 points or 1.04% to 79,705.91. The Nifty 50 index gained 250.50 points or 1.04% to 24,367.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.21% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.79%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,339 shares rose and 1,565 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 7.45% to 15.37.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index added 1.92% to 6,994.45. The index shed 0.87% in past trading sessions.

Indian Bank (up 3.92%), Canara Bank (up 3.18%), Union Bank of India (up 2.13%), State Bank of India (up 2.1%), Bank of Baroda (up 1.8%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.89%) and UCO Bank (up 0.19%) edged higher.

On the other hand, Punjab & Sind Bank (down 0.57%), Bank of India (down 0.39%) and Central Bank of India (down 0.2%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Grasim Industries added 1.26%. The company reported 23.38% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,207.93 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,576.47 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 9% YoY to Rs 33,860.75 crore in Q1 FY25, driven by strong performance from its diversified businesses portfolio. Cellulosic Staple Fibre, Building Materials and Financial Services businesses delivered superior performance.

Eicher Motors jumped 5.55% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 19.94% to Rs 1,101.46 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 918.34 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 10.2% YoY to Rs 4,393.05 crore during the quarter.

JSW Steel advance 2.58% after the company’s consolidated crude steel production for the month of July 2024 was at 22.15 lakh tonnes, which is higher by 9% as compared with the same period last year.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) rose 0.83%. The state-run life insurer’s standalone net profit rose 9.61% to Rs 10,461.05 crore on 15.66% increase in total premium income to Rs 1,13,770.14 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24.

Oil India rallied 4.78%. The petroleum business company reported 9.09% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 1,466.84 in Q1 FY25 as compared to Rs 1,613.43 crore posted in Q1 FY24. However, revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) jumped 17.67% to Rs 5,331.92 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 4531.18 crore reported in the same period a year ago.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) slipped 5.96% after the company’s standalone net profit dropped 92.87% to Rs 10.68 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 149.83 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations fell 1.48% to Rs 23,997.78 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 24,357.58 crore posted in same quarter last fiscal

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) declined 1.82%. The company reported 5.14% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 258.17 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared to Rs 245.56 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 9.38% year on year (YoY) to Rs 2,103.13 crore during the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

Biocon shed 0.75%. The company’s conosldidated net profit surged to Rs 659.7 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 101.4 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations increased marginally YoY to Rs 3,432.9 crore in during the quarter.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced while most Asian stocks ended higher on Friday, buoyed by a strong Wall Street performance.

Investor sentiment was lifted by China's release of July consumer price index data, which showed a modest increase and eased deflation concerns. The country's consumer prices rose 0.5% year-on-year last month. However, core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy items, cooled to 0.4% from 0.6% in June.

U.S. stocks surged on Thursday after the Labor Department reported a larger-than-expected drop in initial jobless claims to 233,000 for the week ended August 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.76%, the S&P 500 gained 2.30% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.87%.