Market Wrap, July 28: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Dalal Street bulls had a field day on Tuesday as the benchmark indices ended around 1.5 per cent higher amid buying in almost all the sectors. Better-than-expected corporate earnings of select companies coupled with positive global cues helped the market log stellar gains.
 

The benchmark S&P Sensex today rallied 558 points or 1.47 per cent to settle at 38,493, with UltraTech Cement (up 7 per cent) being the top gainer, followed by TCS (up 4.7 per cent), M&M (up nearly 4.5 per cent), and Maruti (up 4 per cent). On the other hand, ICICI Bank (down nearly 2 per cent) ended as the biggest loser on the index. Of 30 constituents, 25 advanced and rest 5 declined.
 

On the NSE, the broader Nifty index ended at 11,300.5, up 169 points or 1.52 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, declined over 5 per cent to 23.73 levels.
 

Among individual stocks, UltraTech Cement moved higher by 7 per cent to Rs 4,136 on the BSE after the company reported better-than-expected operational performance in the April-June quarter of FY21 (Q1FY21).
 

HDFC Life Insurance hit an all-time high of Rs 647.50 on the BSE during the day ahead of its inclusion in the benchmark index Nifty50 from Friday, July 31, 2020, onwards. The stock ended at Rs 640.55.
 

Shares of Tech Mahindra gained as much as 6 per cent to Rs 702 on the BSE after the company's April-June quarter (Q1FY21) earnings beat Street estimate. The stock settled at Rs 683.50, up nearly 3 per cent.
 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.76 per cent higher at 13,669 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 12,917, up 0.6 per cent.
 

On the sectoral front, barring Nifty Media, all the other indices ended in the green. Nifty Auto index rallied over 3 per cent to 7,417 levels while Nifty IT gained over 2 per cent to 18,043 points.
 

Now, let's have a look at the global markets.
 

European stocks inched higher as investors held out for more US stimulus to limit the economic damage of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed lower, but Chinese blue chips rose 0.8 per cent.
 

In commodity markets, gold hit a record high before falling a bit as investors booked profit following a steep surge in the precious metal.

Read by Swati Verma