Market Wrap Podcast, August 2: All that happened in the markets today

Buying returned to Dalal Street as a mix of firm global cues, strong macro-economic data and a robust show by India Inc so far in the June quarter supported investor sentiments.

After starting the day on an upbeat note, tracking firm trend from Asian peers, benchmark indices added to the gains as India Manufacturing PMI rose from 48.1 in June to 55.3 in July, pointing to the strongest rate of growth in three months. Sensex closed near day's high, up 364 points at 52,951 while Nifty50 settled at 15,885, up 122 points.

Titan, M&M, RIL, Axis Bank and TCS were the top gainers in the 30-pack index and Tata Steel, Bajaj twins, NTPC and HDFC Bank were the top losers.

Broader markets continued to outperform. Both the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap shut shop at record closing highs after hitting fresh peaks in intra-day session. The midcap index gained 1.05 per cent and smallcap index 1.07 per cent. Both indices rose for the third day.

In the sectoral space, all indices edged higher led by Nifty Realty which rose 4.8 per cent. Improved outlook for real estate due to a surge in property registrations piqued interest in the sector. Nifty Auto index followed suit with a 1.34 per cent return following strong July sales figures. Nifty Media out up the least impressive show with a 0.04 per cent rise.

In stock-specific moves, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2 per cent to Rs 756 as the July sales jumped 30 per cent MoM to 42,983 units.

Further, IRCTC gained 6 per cent to Rs 2,468 as the company said its board will mull a stock split along with its Q1 results on August 12. The scrip had touched an all-time high of Rs Rs 2,490 intra-day.

Shares of Vodafone Idea ended flat with a negative bias at Rs 8.25 after Kumar Mangalam Birla has told the government he is willing to offer his stake in Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) to any state-owned or "domestic financial entity" to keep the stressed telecom company afloat.

HDFC shares gained nearly 1 per cent to Rs 2,462.30 even as it posted a 1.6 per cent YoY decrease in standalone net profit at Rs 3,000.67 crore for April-June quarter of FY22 (Q1FY22) on the back of lower other income and higher tax and employee expenses.

That said, going into trade on Tuesday, the focus will remain on the ongoing earnings season that may result in stock-specific action on Street. 

Nearly 70 companies are slated to post their Q1 earnings tomorrow. Some of the prominent names include Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, Bharti Airtel, Barbeque Nation, Dabur, Inox Leisure and Tata Consumer Products. In regards to Airtel, analysts believe the company may report stable ARPU sequentially and nearly flat revenue growth. Further global cues will continue to sway market sentiments.