Sensex up 200 pts, Nifty near 24,900 as IT, bank stocks gain; Auto index down almost 1%

L&T, NTPC, Tata Consumer Products, Grasim, and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex were trading higher for a second straight session at mid-day on Wednesday, July 30, led by gains in IT, banking, metal, and oil & gas stocks. Sentiment improved as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices pared most of their early losses to hover just below the flatline.

At about 12:20 pm, the Sensex was up 180.48 points or 0.22 percent at 81,518.43, and the Nifty was up 49.45 points or 0.20 percent at 24,870.55. About 1869 shares advanced, 1508 shares declined, and 133 shares remained unchanged.

"The technical bounce back in Nifty by 140 points yesterday is unlikely to continue in the unfavourable near-term market scenario. Such bounce-backs happen in an oversold market. The major drag on the market continues to be the negative news on the India-US trade front," says V K Vijaykumar of Geojit Investments Limited.

"While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the announcement could impact the outlook for rates," says Devarsh Vakil of HDFC Securities. "Experts say that the fall of the Indian Rupee has also turned investors cautious. This depreciation was primarily driven by sustained selling by foreign funds, coupled with a recovery in the US Dollar and an increase in crude oil prices," he added.

Sectorally, indices were trading mixed. The India VIX slipped 1.82 percent to 11.32, indicating low volatility. Among the gainers, Nifty Infra rose 0.82 percent, followed by Nifty Energy up 0.54 percent and Nifty IT gaining 0.23 percent. Nifty Bank, PSU Bank, Oil & Gas, Metal, Pharma, and Private Bank indices also posted modest gains.

On the flip side, Nifty Auto was down 0.61 percent, making it the biggest sectoral laggard. Nifty FMCG, Media, Consumer Durables, Realty, and the Smallcap 100 index also traded in the red. The Midcap 100 index was marginally higher by 0.06 percent.

As for individual stocks, shares of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) gained more than 4 percent as the market positively responded to the engineering and construction major's June quarter earnings. The company on July 29 reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,617 crore for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2026. This marks a 30 percent on-year rise from the Rs 2,786 crore net profit reported in the same quarter last year.

Tata Motors came under pressure on July 30, falling more than 4 percent after reports emerged that the Indian auto major is in advanced talks to acquire the truck division of Italy’s Iveco Group in a deal valued at $4.5 billion. According to CNBC TV-18, discussions between Tata Motors and the Agnelli family-owned Iveco are centred around the commercial and defence truck business.

Axiscades surged 5 percent on July 30 on the back of 'significant' new orders totalling up to Rs 600 crore through its defence subsidiaries, the company informed through an exchange filing. The orders add to the existing orderbook and are expected to be executed over the next 3-5 years, providing a 'steady revenue stream' with prototyping and full-scale production phases, said Axiscades.

"The Nifty ended 140 points higher at 24,821 on Tuesday, giving some relief to tactical bulls. Notably, the index bounced from the 24,600 mark — the upper end of a key support zone — forming a bullish engulfing pattern on the charts, which has raised hopes of a further move towards 25,000," Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, said.

L&T, NTPC, Tata Consumer Products, Grasim, and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Nifty. Laggards on the index included Tata Motors, HUL, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Finserv.