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Indian equities concluded Monday’s trading session (July 21) on a positive note, with strong gains in banking heavyweights including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, along with a rally in select auto stocks, helping the Nifty 50 reclaim the 25,000 mark. The index ended at 25,079 points, up 0.44% from Friday’s closing level.

The gains could have been higher if Reliance Industries, the largest heavyweight among Nifty constituents, had not crashed nearly 4%, following its June quarter performance.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex ended the session at 82,194, rising 0.53% over the previous close. Broader markets were mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index climbing 0.60%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index slipped marginally by 0.06%.

Among individual stocks, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank ended with gains of up to 2.9% as investors reacted positively to their June quarter results, which were released over the weekend.

Looking at other developments, the potential mini trade deal between India and the US is expected to be finalized soon. US President Donald Trump recently said that a deal with India was "very close," ahead of the August 1 deadline, when duties on most US imports are set to rise again.

Recent reports also suggest that India and the UK are likely to seal a long-awaited free trade agreement this week, which could grant Indian textiles and electric vehicles duty-free access to the UK market while easing the entry of British whisky, cars, and food exports into India.

Meanwhile, overseas investors continue to pull funds from Indian exchanges. So far in July, they have sold Indian stocks worth ₹10,775 crore, although they remain invested in the primary markets—an indication that they see stock valuations in the secondary market as stretched.

As the Indian stock market received a strong boost from robust banking earnings, over a dozen stocks ended the session with gains of more than 5%, with Mastek leading the pack. Mastek surged 7% to ₹2,669 apiece after the company reported a 29% year-on-year jump in Q1 PAT, while revenue rose 13%.

Eternal (formerly Zomato) shares closed with a solid 6% gain after the company posted a 70% YoY increase in revenue and a net profit of ₹25 crore, compared to a loss of ₹250 crore in the same period last year. The Street appeared particularly encouraged by the strong performance of its quick-commerce division, which reported revenue of ₹2,400 crore—up from ₹942 crore a year ago.

Jyoti CNC Automation also ended the session with a healthy 5.4% gain, closing at ₹1,075 apiece. Persistent Systems, another mid-cap IT stock, rose 4.2%, marking its biggest intraday jump in the last two months.

Other notable gainers included Apar Industries, UPL, ACME Solar Holdings, Lloyds Metals, MMTC, NALCO, L&T Finance Holdings, ABB India, GE T&D India, Tata Investment, Jindal Stainless, BSE, and Tanla Platforms. In total, more than 60 stocks among the Nifty 5800 universe ended with gains of over 1.5%.

Among the top losers today, MRPL was the biggest laggard, falling 6.75% to ₹139 apiece following the release of its Q1 results. The company reported a net loss of ₹271 crore, with revenue declining from ₹23,247 crore to ₹17,356 crore in Q1FY26.

Ceat was another stock that was hit hard after its earnings announcement, losing 7% of its value. The tyre maker posted a 27% YoY drop in net profit, hurt by a spike in expenses. Following the results, brokerages adjusted their estimates lower, with Nomura downgrading the stock to “Neutral” from “Buy” and cutting the target price to ₹3,906 from ₹3,945.

JP Power shares continued to witness profit booking, tumbling another 6% to ₹21.52, extending their losing streak to a fifth straight session. The stock had seen a steady rally from June 23 to July 14, during which it gained 61%.

AU Small Finance Bank also ended the session lower by 5.28% at ₹752 apiece after the retail-focused lender reported weak June quarter results. The core performance was impacted by a 40 bps sequential decline in net interest margins and higher-than-expected delinquencies, especially in south-based mortgages and a delayed recovery in the microfinance segment, according to Nuvama.

Emkay cut its FY26 and FY27 earnings estimates by 2–3%, while ICICI Securities downgraded the stock to “Add” from “Buy.” Centrum also downgraded it to “Add,” citing valuation concerns that could limit further upside.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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