Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 29 : The stock markets closed flat on Monday after both BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty reached new all-time highs.
The BSE Sensex rose by 30.39 points to close at 81,363.11 while the NSE Nifty gained 7.60 points, ending the day at 24,842.45. These gains were driven by strong performances in banking stocks and Larsen & Toubro.
The Sensex peaked at an intraday high of 81,908.43, while the Nifty reached a peak of 24,999.75 before settling down. Among the Nifty companies, 25 advanced and 25 declined.
The top gainers included Divi's Lab, BPCL, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, and M&M. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Cipla, ITC, and Tata Consumer Products were the top losers.
In broader market movements, the BSE MidCap index advanced by 0.4 per cent, and the SmallCap index rose by 0.8 per cent.
The Nifty PSU Bank index surged over 3 per cent, reflecting strong investor confidence in public sector banks. The realty sector saw an increase of 1.68 per cent, indicating positive sentiment across various sectors.
The Indian Rupee fell to an all-time low amid heightened demand for dollars from importers. Analysts anticipate a continued negative bias for the rupee due to month-end dollar demand and potential recovery in the US dollar ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The domestic market strength and fresh Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) inflows may provide some support.
In the commodities market, WTI crude oil prices declined by 4.6 per cent last week, marking a third consecutive weekly drop due to weak demand from China and geopolitical uncertainties in Gaza. Oil prices edged up slightly to USD 77.4 per barrel but remained near weekly lows. The upcoming OPEC+ meeting on August 1 and recent positive industrial profit data from China are key factors to watch.
Varun Aggarwal, founder and managing director, Profit Idea, said that investors remain cautious ahead of central bank meetings this week, including the Federal Reserve (FOMC), the Bank of England (BoE), and the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
These meetings are expected to provide crucial insights into future monetary policies, influencing market directions in the near term.
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