Monday, July 13 began with a shock. The BSE Sensex plunged over 700 points at the open, touching an intraday low of 76,857.43, after Iran announced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz following fresh American strikes on its territory over the weekend. Brent crude jumped past $79 a barrel on the news, a red flag for an oil-importing economy like India.
By midday, though, the market clawed back most of its losses. The Sensex was trading near flat at 77,626, up 56 points, while the Nifty 50 hovered around 24,213, barely changed from Friday's close. IT heavyweights did the heavy lifting. TCS, HCLTech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro all rallied as a weaker rupee, which slipped to around ₹95.70 against the dollar, boosted the earnings outlook for export-driven software firms.
This followed a strong Friday session, when the Sensex surged 1.08% to close at 77,569.39 and the Nifty rose 1.02% to 24,206.90, with market breadth firmly positive at 2,339 advances against 976 declines on the NSE. India VIX, the market's fear gauge, had eased to 12.25 by Friday before ticking back up on Monday's geopolitical scare.
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Top gainers and losers today
IT stocks led Monday's recovery. TCS was the standout, up more than 5.5% intraday to around ₹2,184, followed by HCLTech, which gained close to 5% to trade near ₹1,221. Tech Mahindra rose over 3%, Infosys added around 3%, and Wipro was up nearly 2%.
On the losing side, metal, realty and consumer stocks bore the brunt of the crude oil spike and risk-off sentiment. Tata Steel fell over 2% to around ₹187, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) dropped over 2% as aviation stocks got hit by rising fuel costs, JSW Steel slipped over 1.5%, and Tata Consumer Products and Grasim Industries also ended in the red. Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal indices were among the worst-hit sectoral gauges, down over 1% each.
Stocks to watch: earnings season is in full swing
Nearly 70 companies report quarterly results this week, making it one of the busiest weeks of the earnings season. The spotlight falls on HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and HCL Tech, whose numbers will set the tone for banking and IT stocks respectively. Also on investors' radar are L&T, Avenue Supermarts (DMart) and Just Dial.
Given the crude oil spike, expect heightened trading interest in oil marketing companies, paint makers and aviation stocks, all of which are directly sensitive to fuel and input costs. Analysts at Kotak Securities pointed to the 20-day moving average near 24,000 on the Nifty and 77,000 on the Sensex as the immediate support zone to watch if selling resumes.
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Upcoming IPOs to track this week
The primary market stays busy even as the secondary market wobbles. SBI Funds Management, one of India's largest asset managers, opens its mainboard IPO from July 14 to 16, with a price band of ₹545-574 and listing expected on July 21. Alongside it, Alpine Texworld opens in the same window at a ₹100-105 band, and Millworks Technologies runs its SME IPO from July 14 to 16 at ₹315-331 a share.
On the SME side, Happy Steels and Devson Catalyst are wrapping up their subscription windows this week, while Sotefin Bharat is set to open from July 16 to 20. Kusumgar, a mainboard issue that closed on July 10, is scheduled to list on July 15.
Looking further out, the IPO pipeline remains stacked with some of India's most anticipated names. Reliance Jio, the National Stock Exchange itself, PhonePe, boAt, Zepto, OYO, MakeMyTrip and Flipkart all continue to be tracked by market watchers, though none of these mega-issues have firm dates yet. Over 190 companies are reportedly in various stages of the IPO pipeline this year, spanning fintech, consumer tech and manufacturing.
Dividend stocks in focus
The last two weeks saw a heavy dividend calendar, with names like Titan, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, JK Cement and Cera Sanitaryware, which declared the highest final dividend at ₹75 a share, all going ex-dividend. With Q1 FY27 earnings season now underway, several banks and NBFCs typically follow up results with interim dividend announcements over the coming weeks. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank results this week could bring fresh dividend news alongside the numbers.
Investors tracking dividend income should remember that a stock's price adjusts down by roughly the dividend amount on the ex-date itself. Eligibility depends on holding the stock before the ex-dividend date, not the payment date, so timing matters more than most new investors realise. For the current week's confirmed ex-dividend list, check the BSE and NSE corporate action pages directly, since fresh board announcements come through daily during results season.
What else to track this week
Two macro data points loom large. India's CPI inflation print and US inflation data are both due this week, and either could move rate expectations both at home and in Washington. Crude oil remains the wildcard. If the Strait of Hormuz situation escalates further, expect continued pressure on oil marketing companies, paint stocks, tyre makers and aviation names, while IT and pharma, which have healthier dollar-revenue exposure, could stay relatively insulated.
Sector rotation is worth watching too. PSU banks and realty led Friday's rally, and the weekly relative rotation data shows both realty and pharma sitting in the leading quadrant with momentum intact, while IT's leadership looks less assured heading into a geopolitically choppy week.
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News4Bharat POV
The sharp recovery from Monday’s opening sell-off shows that buying interest remains present at lower levels, particularly in export-oriented IT stocks. However, the market outlook will continue to depend on crude-oil prices, developments around the Strait of Hormuz, the rupee-dollar exchange rate and quarterly earnings from major banks and technology companies.
The 24,000 level on the Nifty and 77,000 on the Sensex remain important near-term support zones. Investors should also track India and US inflation data, crude-sensitive sectors and fresh corporate announcements during the week. With earnings season, IPO activity and geopolitical uncertainty unfolding simultaneously, stock-specific volatility is likely to remain elevated.
