Nifty Above 24,500; Metal Stocks Shine

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Monday, with major indices trading in the red.

US stock futures traded higher on Sunday evening as investors looked ahead to the July employment report and a packed earnings calendar in the first week of August. Wall Street ended Friday's session on a positive note.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Friday:

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 492 points higher, and NSE Nifty is trading 146 points higher.

Indigo, ITC and Tata Motors Passenger vehicle among the top gainers today.

Sun Pharma, Cipla and ONGC, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

The BSE 150 Midcap index is trading 0.4% higher, and the BSE 250 SmallCap index is trading 0.8% higher.

Baring the consumer durable sector, all other sectoral indices are trading positive today, with stocks in the metal sector and the FMCG sector witnessing buying.

The rupee is trading at Rs 95.16 against the US dollar.

ITC Q1FY27 Performance

Shares of Tata ITC came into focus after the company reported its Q1 FY27 results.

ITC Ltd reported a 27% year-on-year decline in net profit to Rs 35.8 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with Rs 51.1 bn in the corresponding quarter last year.

Revenue from operations increased 28% year-on-year to Rs 269.4 bn, up from Rs 216.9 bn a year earlier.

At the operating level, EBITDA declined 27.9% to Rs 45.1 bn from Rs 62.6 bn in the year-ago period. EBITDA margin contracted to 26.7%, compared with 31.7% in the corresponding quarter last year.

BEL Bags Another Major Defence Contract

Shares of Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) are likely to remain in focus on Monday, 3 August 2026, after the company announced fresh order wins worth Rs 8.47 bn in a post-market regulatory filing on Friday.

The new contracts, secured since BEL's previous disclosure on 13 July 2026, cover the supply of electro-optics, security operations centres, seekers, components, spares, and related services, among other products.

Earlier this month, on 13 July 2026, BEL had announced orders worth Rs 5.72 bn, including communication equipment, avionics, encryptors, tank sub-systems, electronic voting machines (EVMs), batteries, components, upgrades, spares, and associated services.

Maruti Suzuki Q1 FY27 Performance

Shares of Maruti Suzuki came into focus after the company reported its Q1 FY27 results.

The company's total sales volume increased 29.3% year-on-year during the first quarter, driven by a 34.1% rise in domestic small car sales, a 44.6% increase in SUV sales, and 28.6% growth in exports. Its domestic market share improved by 2.3 percentage points to 41.2%. The higher volumes were supported by the commissioning of the company's second manufacturing plant in Kharkhoda, while dealer inventory remained healthy at around 13 days at the end of the quarter.

Net sales rose 36% year-on-year to Rs 499.6 bn in Q1 FY27 from Rs 366.2 bn in the corresponding quarter last year. However, rising raw material costs, which intensified during the quarter due to the war, weighed on profitability. As a result, net profit declined to Rs 33.5 bn from Rs 37.6 bn in Q1 FY26.

The board also approved the first phase of four compressed biogas (CBG) projects with a total investment of Rs 5.6 bn. Further expansion of its CBG manufacturing business will be evaluated based on the performance of these initial projects.