India's benchmarks eked out a third straight advance, with the Nifty 50 settling at 24,383.60 and the Sensex up 166 points, as cooling US inflation and a blistering AI-led rally across Wall Street and Asia outweighed a breather in IT stocks and still-elevated US–Iran tensions — sealing the market's best week since April.

How India closed

• Nifty 50: 24,383.60, up 66.45 pts (+0.27%)
• Sensex: 78,094.64, up 166.49 pts (+0.21%)
• Bank Nifty: 57,264.85, up 117.35 pts (+0.21%)
• Broader market led: Nifty Next 50 +1.31%, Nifty 500 +0.46%; the Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 also ended higher (Kotak Securities pegged both up through the session).
• India VIX: 11.76, down 3.29% — a notably calm read.

The move was powered by sustained FII buying, a softer US inflation print and a record-setting global AI rally; profit-booking in richly-run IT names kept a lid on the upside (levels as reported by Google Finance and Dalal Street Investment Journal).

Sectors & stocks — the why

Autos, metals and select financials led. TVS Motor (+2.4%), Bajaj Auto and Maruti firmed ahead of Friday's monthly sales; Tata Steel (+1.6%) rode a global materials bid; Muthoot Finance jumped ~3.8% on firm gold, and Reliance added ~0.9%. IT was the drag — Infosys (-2.3%) and Wipro (-1.5%) saw profit-booking after the Nifty IT index's ~15% July surge. City Union Bank (-4.3%) and Adani Enterprises (-1.3%) also slipped. In the primary market, Manipal Health's ₹9,275-cr IPO hit its final day, after strong debuts from Indo-MIM (~+45%) and Lohia Corp (~+9%); SpaceX (SPCX) drew attention on a US FAA faster-launch proposal.

FII & DII flows

Provisional data for 30 July showed FIIs net buyers of ₹3,623.51 crore — a third straight session of buying — while DIIs were net sellers of ₹1,864.03 crore (Business Standard). Friday's provisional flows are due after-hours.

Currency & commodities

• Rupee: ended little changed around 95.41/$ after firming early (Twelve Data; The Hindu).
• Crude: Brent slipped below $85 (~-2.3%) and WTI below $81.50 (~-3%), easing on a Saudi-led Red Sea de-escalation proposal (Goodreturns) — a tailwind for India's import bill.
• Gold: softened alongside the risk-on mood.

Global now

Europe (live): Germany's DAX rose ~1% toward a record near 25,870 and the UK's FTSE added ~0.8% to ~10,983 (BNN Bloomberg). Asia (closed): Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped ~3–4% (~64,300); South Korea's Kospi soared a record ~18% as SK Hynix and Samsung surged on the AI trade; Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished flat (~+0.1%). US: futures pointed higher after Thursday's blockbuster — Dow +1.19% (52,208), S&P 500 +1.66% (7,438), Nasdaq +2.78% (25,122) — with Microsoft leaping ~15% and adding roughly $450 bn in value on strong cloud/AI guidance.

Economic data

US June PCE (released 30 July) cooled: headline +3.7% y/y (from 4.1%) and core +3.3%, with Q2 GDP at +1.5% — the softer inflation read underpinned global risk appetite (US BEA). India's core-sector output grew 5.0% in June on the new nine-industry series; April–June fiscal-deficit figures are due after-hours today. Landing tonight/today: euro-area flash July CPI and Q2 GDP (German GDP rose, inflation ticked up), China's official July PMI, US Chicago PMI and the Q2 Employment Cost Index, plus the Bank of Japan's rate decision. Tomorrow (1 Aug): India's July GST collections, monthly auto/vehicle sales and S&P Global Manufacturing PMI; US ISM Manufacturing follows early next week, and the US July jobs report is due 7 August.

Sentiment

Risk-on. With India VIX sliding to 11.76 and breadth positive, the AI-led global rally, FII inflows and easing crude outweighed IT profit-booking and the simmering US–Iran conflict.

What to watch tonight & tomorrow

Tomorrow's July auto sales and GST collections will test the domestic-demand story, while tonight's euro-area inflation/GDP and US data shape global rate expectations. Watch whether IT steadies after its July run, the path of crude amid Red Sea and US–Iran headlines, and Monday's global manufacturing PMIs for the next cue.

As of ~4:05 PM IST, 31 July 2026. Figures as reported by Google Finance, Dalal Street Investment Journal, Business Standard, BNN Bloomberg, The Hindu, Goodreturns and the US BEA. Automated market wrap for discussion and education only — not investment advice. Verify before acting.