After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets reversed the trend as the session progressed and ended on a firm footing.

Indian stock markets firmed up in the second half of the trading session on the back of fresh buying in IT, FMCG, banks, and telecom stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 627 points (up 0.8%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 188 points (up 0.8%).

TCS, Wipro, and ONGC were among the top gainers today.

Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, and Coal India on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,830 up by 125 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended and the BSE SmallCap index ended 1% lower.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the IT sector, media sector, and FMCG sector witnessing the most buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the power sector, metal sector, and capital goods witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of TCS, Mphasis, and Torrent Pharma hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 83.66 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.3% higher at Rs 74,375 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 0.7% higher at Rs 92,625 per 1 kg.

Here are three reasons why Indian Markets are rising today

#1 IT Stocks Rally

The majority of the gains were driven by IT stocks, as investors turned optimistic towards IT stocks after the country's leading two IT firms, TCS and HCL Tech reported healthy performance in the June quarter.

#2 Sectoral Gains

On the sectoral front, the Nifty IT index continues its fourth consecutive bull run in today's trade, jumping another 2% to hit a new record high of 39,905. Apart from It index, FMCG index and media index also gained around 1%

#3 The rupee factor

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit moved in a narrow range. It opened at 83.57 against the American currency and touched 83.55 in initial trade, registering a rise of 3 paise from its previous close.Speaking of the stock market, there is set to be a wide demand supply gap in power availability over the next decade. So, most power producers are betting on an attractive increase in merchant power tariffs over the next five years.

And therefore, there is an unwillingness to sign long term power purchase agreements (PPAs) at relatively lower prices.
 

Why Bajaj Auto Share Price is Falling

In news from the auto sector, shares of Bajaj Auto dipped by 3.7% to a low of Rs 9,295.5 on BSE after the company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 19.4 bn, an 18% YoY increase, which led to brokerages hiking target prices to as high as Rs 12,000 for the stock.

Consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter stood at Rs 119.3 bn, reflecting a 16% rise compared to Rs 103.1 bn in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

However, sequentially, the profit after tax (PAT) for the reported quarter was down 3.4% against Rs 20.1 bn reported in the January-March quarter.

Bajaj Auto posted a 24% YoY surge in Q1FY25 EBITDA to Rs 2.4 bn on the back of better realization and PLI incentives. 2W volume prospects remain positive and Nuvama reckons an 8% CAGR over FY24-27E led by continuing domestic growth (7%) and strong recovery in exports (10%).

Bajaj Auto's EBITDA margin at 20.2%, 1.3% YoY improvement was driven by a favorable mix, cost reduction efforts, and PLI incentive.

Domestic 2W demand is being led by the premium segment and overall 2W industry is expected to grow by 6-8%.

Bajaj Auto is one of the leading two and three-wheeler manufacturers in India and it's also world's fourth largest manufacturer.

The auto major has three plants in all, two at Waluj and Chakan in Maharashtra and one plant at Pant Nagar in Uttaranchal.

Why MTNL Shares are Rising

moving on to news from the telecom sector, shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) skyrocketed 19% to hit a multi-year high at Rs 63.32 on NSE amid heavy volumes. The sharp rally comes after the government deposited Rs 92 crore to clear immediate bond interest dues of the state-owned telecom service provider.

Earlier this month on July 11, MTNL disclosed that it could not fund the escrow account for the payment of semi-annual interest on the series VIII-A bonds due to insufficient funds.

The payment of the bonds is due on July 20, and as per the structured payment mechanism, the designated trust and retention account is to be funded by MTNL, 10 calendar days i.e. (T-10) before the due date, to the tune of the interest and/or principal obligations on the bonds.

The state-run telco could not pay interest on its 7.6% July 2033 bonds, which are guaranteed by the government. Interest payments on 14 bonds are due between July and December this year.

Following this, reports surfaced that the Union Government will honor all interest obligations/payments for MTNL's bonds.

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