The key equity benchmark traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark. Oil & gas shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 172.92 points or 0.21% to 81,510.87. The Nifty 50 index gained 47.75 points or 0.19% to 24,865.85.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.26%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,052 shares rose and 1,739 shares fell. A total of 200 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.93% to 11.30. The Nifty 31 July 2025 futures were trading at 24,866.20, at a premium of 0.35 points as compared with the spot at 24,865.85.
The Nifty option chain for the 31 July 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 199.9 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 165.4 lakh contracts was seen at 24,800 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index rose 0.17% to 11,465.30. The index rose 1.25% in two consecutive trading sessions.
Mahanagar Gas (up 1.86%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.82%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 1.23%), Oil India (up 1.2%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 0.56%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.53%), Adani Total Gas (up 0.44%) and Gujarat State Petronet (up 0.37%) advanced.
On the other hand, GAIL (India) (down 1.27%), Indraprastha Gas (down 1.2%) and Castrol India (down 0.65%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Allied Blenders and Distillers rose 1.48% after the company’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 56 crore in Q1 FY26, marking a 398.6% increase compared to Rs 11 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) increased by 21.80% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 922.86 crore in Q1 FY26.
Blue Dart Express slipped 3.44% after the company reported an 8.59% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 48.83 crore in Q1 FY26 as against Rs 53.42 crore posted in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 7.38% YoY to Rs 1,441.92 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.