Sensex gains 334 pts; financial services shares advance

The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade as investors monitoring state election results across Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, along with movements in crude oil and developments in the West Asia conflict. Elevated Brent crude prices, driven by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, remain a key concern for inflation and the rupee, while corporate earnings present a mixed outlook. Meanwhile, the Nifty hovered above the 24,100 level. Financial services stocks advanced after declining in the previous three consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 333.69 points or 0.44% to 77,246.55. The Nifty 50 index jumped 114.25 points or 0.48% to 24,112.75.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 0.66% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index surged 0.80%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,490 shares rose and 1,770 shares fell. A total of 237 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.79% to 18.31.

2026 Assembly Polls: Vote Counts Underway in 5 States

Vote counting for the assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry, shows BJP maintaining a strong lead in West Bengal (trending ~194 seats vs TMC's ~95) and comfortably ahead in Assam nearing a majority, per live updates from the Election Commission portal. DMK holds its edge in Tamil Nadu with leads in urban centers like Chennai alongside TVK's gains in a few seats such as Gummidipoondi, while Kerala's UDF and LDF trade narrow advantages and Puducherry tilts toward NDA/AINRC. These figures represent ongoing trends from returning officers, with final Form-20 results pending confirmation on ECI's site.

Economy:

Despite rising from 53.9 in March to 54.7 in April, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing PMI'a gauge of overall business conditions based on new orders, output, employment, supplier delivery times and inventory levels'signalled the second-slowest improvement in operating conditions in nearly four years.

April data pointed to modest recoveries in new orders and production, although growth remained the second-weakest since 2022. Exports stood out as a bright spot, with manufacturers reporting the fastest expansion since September last year.

Firms also noted that the ongoing conflict in West Asia continued to exert upward pressure on inflation, with input costs and output prices rising at the fastest pace in 44 months and six months, respectively.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Services index rose 0.49% to 25,781.80. The index fell 1.93% in the past three consecutive trading sessions.

Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company (up 4.50%), Shriram Finance (up 1.75%), BSE (up 1.69%), Jio Financial Services (up 1.66%), Muthoot Finance (up 1.40%), Bajaj Finance (up 0.85%), Bajaj Finserv (up 0.7%), ICICI Bank (up 0.63%), HDFC Bank (up 0.45%) and Max Financial Services (up 0.29%) advanced.

On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.18%), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (down 0.87%) and REC (down 0.34%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.04% to 7.021 compared with previous session close of 7.018.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee lowered against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.0200 compared with its close of 94.8400 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2026 settlement fell 0.81% to Rs 150,126.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.09% to 98.09.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.41% to 4.396.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2026 settlement jumped $1.50 or 1.39% to $109.67 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Godrej Properties added 2.84% after its consolidated net profit jumped 70.13% to Rs 649.88 crore on a 41.98% increase in total income to Rs 3,806.65 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q4 FY25.

Tata Motors added 0.05%. The company reported a 28% year-on-year (YoY) increase in total commercial vehicle (CV) sales to 34,833 units in April 2026, compared with 27,221 units in April 2025.

Ather Energy declined 1.38%. The company has reported a net loss of Rs 79.60 crore in Q4 FY26, which is significantly lower as compared with the net loss of Rs 197.80 crore recorded in Q4 FY25.

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