Market Wrap: Sensex, Nifty surge, mid, smallcaps outperform; investors richer by over ₹2 lakh crore in a day

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equity market witnessed all-round buying on Monday (July 31) which helped the benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty end higher amid broadly positive global cues. "Asian shares were trying to end the month on a firm note on Monday in a week littered with major economic releases, central bank meetings and earnings updates from mega-caps Amazon and Apple, though rising Japanese bond yields posed a risk," reported Reuters. Last week, the US Fed and European Central Bank hiked rates.

Investors now await outcomes of the Bank of England (BoE) meeting this week and RBI monetary policy next week. While BoE may raise rates by 25 bps, experts expect the RBI to hold interest rates steady in the upcoming meeting. After opening nearly flat at 66,156.39 against the previous close of 66,160.20, the Sensex rose 438 points to hit its intraday high of 66,598.42.

The index finally closed with a gain of 367 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 66,527.67 while the Nifty rose 108 points, or 0.55 per cent, to close at 19,753.80. Reliance Industries, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank and NTPC ended as the top contributor stocks to the gains in the Sensex index. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC and Bajaj Finance ended as the top drags on the index.

Mid and smallcaps outperformed the benchmark. The BSE Midcap index rose 0.86 per cent to end at 30,419.75 after hitting its record high of 30,440.32. The BSE Smallcap index also hit its fresh record high of 35,039.71, before ending the day with a strong gain of 1.31 per cent at 35,002.32.