Sensex jumps 400 pts, Nifty above 25,000; ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank lead gains

Stock market today: The Indian stock market started the week on a robust tone on Monday, July 21, banking sector giants -- HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank -- announced healthy earnings for the first quarter of the financial year 2025-2026 (Q1FY26) over the weekend.  At 11:42 AM, Sensex was up by 337 points or 0.41 per cent, quoting at 82,095. The index hit an intra-day high of 82,161.55, up by 403 points. Whereas, Nifty was trading above the key psychological 25,000 level, up by 50 points or 0.20 per cent. The index hit an intra-day high of 25,079.50.

From the Sensex pack, Eternal (Zomato), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers. On the flip side, Reliance, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Tech, TCS and Axis Bank were among the top laggards.

 

Broader markets signalled mixed trends. The Nifty midcap 100 was trading at 59,307, up by 0.34 per cent. However, the Nifty smallcap index struggled to trade in the green territory, down by 0.19 per cent, quoting 18,924.

Sectorally, Nifty Bank was among the top-performing indices, up by 0.74 per cent and trading at 56,700. Nifty Metal also showcased strength and was trading at 9,556, up by 1.04 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank was among the worst-performing indices, down by 0.66 per cent, quoting 7,115. Nifty IT followed suit and declined by 0.45 per cent, trading at 36,973.

Sector Play

After experiencing subdued investor interest last week, banking stocks came out on top once again as sector giants reported their earnings for the quarter. Despite reporting a slight decline in the consolidated net profit figure to ₹16,258 crore in Q1FY26, analysts are upbeat on HDFC Bank's outlook. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank's profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter under review stood at ₹12,768 crore, up by 15.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). HDFC shares were trading at ₹1,989.50, up by 1.64 per cent on the National Stock Exchange, at the time of writing this report. ICICI Bank shares followed a similar trend and were trading at ₹1,457.6, up by 2.23 per cent.

However, shares of the Mukesh Ambani-owned conglomerate, Reliance Industries (RIL) failed to impress D-street investors despite a 78.3 Y-o-Y rise in net profit. The overall results for Q1FY26 came-in below D-street expectations, which eventually pushed the shares of the company in the red territory, down by 2.5 per cent.

"Weekend Q1 results were good with ICICI Bank reporting the best numbers, particularly in PAT and credit growth. HDFC Bank also reported steady set of numbers. In the banking results, so far, Axis Bank’s numbers are the most disappointing. Flow of institutional funds from some banks to ICICI Bank is a possibility, going forward," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.

FPIs on selling spree

That said, the upside in the markets remain capped amid sticky sell-off by foreign investors. After three consecutive months of buying, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) became net sellers in the Indian stock market in July 2025. Last week, the pace of selling was accelerated as FPIs sold equities worth ₹10,775 crores in the Indian stock market, as per data from NSDL. Interestingly, FPIs remained buyers in the primary market.  "The important take away from this dualistic behaviour of the FPIs is that whenever valuations get stretched in the secondary market, they sell but consistently buy in the primary market (QIP), where valuations are fair. So long as valuations remain elevated this trend will continue," Vijaykumar said. That apart, India's underperformance as compared to other emerging markets might have contributed to the selling spree, according to D-street analysts.