Market Wrap Podcast, July 22: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The bulls made a robust comeback on Dalal Street after three days amid broad-based buying by investors as the global setup remained firm and India Inc reported upbeat quarterly earnings numbers so far in June quarter earnings season.

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rose, mainly helped by gains in Infosys, RIL, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance. The BSE Sensex closed at 52,837, up 639 points or 1.22 per cent. Its NSE counterpart Nifty50 settled at 15,824, up 192 points or 1.23 per cent.

Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finserv were the top Sensex gainers. On the other hand, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and M&M were the four losers.

The action remained robust in broader market as well, with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices gaining nearly 1.5 per cent each. Amid this, the volatility index ease by 10 per cent to 11.88.

The sectoral space was a sea of green on the NSE. Metal stocks outperformed as the index logged 2.99% gains. Nifty Realty, Nifty IT, Nifty Media and Nifty Financial Services also put up a strong show and logged gains of over 1% each.

In stock-specific moves, shares of Gland Pharma and Jubilant FoodWorks hit new highs post their June quarter numbers. Gland Pharma's revenue for Q1 rose 31 per cent YoY to Rs 1,154 crore while its net profit jumped 12 per cent to Rs 251 crore. The company after hitting a new high of Rs 4168, settled 9 per cent higher at Rs 4143.6.

Similarly, Jubilant FoodWorks posted a strong operating performance in Q1. It posted a profit of Rs 69 crore as against a Rs 74 crore loss. Meanwhile, its Ebitda remained flat at 24.1 versus 24.3 in previous quarter despite lockdown impact. The stock closed 12 per cent higher at Rs 3429.70 after hitting a new high of Rs 3449.90.

HUL, however, declined over 2 per cent to end at Rs 2378.65 even as it reported a 10 per cent YoY growth in standalone profit at Rs 2061 crore.  

Bajaj Auto's shares also ended in the red, down over 1 per cent at Rs 3852.6 despite posted a two-fold jump in its Q1 PAT at Rs 1,061 crore. The company also announced formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary to venture into electric mobility segment.

Going into trade on Friday, investors' focus will be on a possible Zomato listing. According to media reports the company could opt for a listing on Friday from Monday earlier. The stock has regained mojo in the grey market and was last commanding a premium of 35 per cent. Further, all eyes will be on oil-to-telecom behemoth RIL's Q1 earnings. That apart, 40 other firms including YES Bank, Federal Bank, SBI Card and JSW Steel.

Globally, stocks returned to near-record highs in Europe as investors bet on the European Central Bank keeping its stimulus taps full open as long as Covid remains a threat to growth. The STOXX index of 600 leading European shares was up 0.6 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 1.2 per cent. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures were only slightly firmer, suggesting the U.S. rally's momentum is fading.