Sensex, Nifty Rise On Earnings

(RTTNews) - Indian shares recovered from an early slide to end higher on Monday, as strong Q1 earnings from heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries helped outweigh tariff-related worries.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has called Aug. 1 the "hard deadline" for countries to start paying tariffs, adding that "nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1."

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex reversed early losses to end the session up 442.61 points, or 0.54 percent, at 82,200.34, with a weakening dollar and lower oil prices offering some support.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed up 122.30 points, or 0.49 percent, higher at 25,090.70 while the BSE mid-cap index rose half a percent and the small-cap index ended little changed.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,182 shares declining while 1,968 shares advanced and 177 shares closed unchanged.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank rallied 2.8 percent after Q1 net profit grew 15.4 percent year-on-year.

Peer HDFC Bank climbed 2.2 percent after declaring its first-even bonus issue and a special dividend.

Ircon International rose 2 percent after securing major infrastructure contracts from MMRDA and RVNL.

L&T Finance surged 3.6 percent after reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings.

Reliance Industries tumbled 3.3 percent after the announcement of new EU sanctions on Russian oil.

RBL Bank dropped about 1 percent on reporting a 4 percent fall in quarterly profit.