After posting record highs for a second session in a row, the headline indices Nifty and Sensex managed to maintain their resilient run during the mid-day. This was bolstered by significant gains in IT, pharma, and healthcare stocks.

Around noon, the Sensex rose by 0.21 percent at 80,151 and the Nifty edged higher by 0.18 percent at 24,331. About 1,966 shares advanced, 1,407 shares declined, and 67 shares unchanged.

Market experts indicate that the worst may be behind for the IT sector, with valuations appearing inexpensive from a long-term standpoint.

On the other hand, broader markets continued their robust performance from the previous trading session as the midcap and smallcap index rose 0.47 and 0.59 percent, respectively. The midcap index hit a new high of 15,932.60 in the early trade.

Sectoral Trend

Of the 13 sectoral indices, IT was the brightest spark, followed by pharma, healthcare and auto. IT majors Tata Consultancy Services  (TCS), Infosys, HCL Tech and Coforge were pulling the index up. After a stellar run on July 3, Nifty Bank witnessed partial profit taking to slip 0.4 percent. HDFC Bank, yesterday's top gainer on the bourses, was the biggest laggard on the index. IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank followed.

Fundamental View

In the near term, the bullish undercurrent of the market has the potential to outweigh the high valuations. The big FII buying of Rs 5,484 crores yesterday is largely due to the massive delivery-based buying in banking stocks led by HDFC Bank. This delivery-based buying may sustain for a few more days imparting resilience to the market," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Service. "The FIIs with 3.78 lakh long contracts have taken a ‘u’ turn in their market approach from the big short contracts in early June," he says.

"The Anticipation around the budget is immense, especially for domestic infrastructure, production, and growth. These factors are fueling the fire of India’s raging bull market," Kranthi Bathini, Director of Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities

Technical View

Sameet Chavan, head of technical and derivative research at Angel One said that on the lower end, 24,100-24,000 withholds an intermediate cushion and a decisive breach below the same could only trigger some further cool-off in the benchmark.

On the Bank Nifty, Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said the range of consolidation is likely to be 53,300 – 52,000 from a short-term perspective.

Key Nifty gainers

HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors

Key Nifty losers

HDCF Bank, Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra

Key Sensex gainers

HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS, Infosys, and Mahindra and Mahindra

Key Sensex losers

HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance

Stock Moves

Cello World: Shares 7 percent to hit an all-time after the company launched a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise Rs 730 crore. The news of the QIP also tipped off a spike in volumes in the counter as 10 lakh shares changed hands on the exchanges so far, sharply higher than the one-month daily traded average.

Lupin: Shares rose 5 percent after brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities double upgraded the stock to an 'add' rating, from the previous 'sell' call. Its bullishness over Lupin stems from the drugmaker's strong US portfolio which makes it well-poised to surprise positively on Street’s estimates in the US in FY25 and FY26.