Equity benchmark indices extended their gains in afternoon trade on Monday, supported by buying in blue-chip banking stocks and lower crude oil prices.At 12.24 pm, the BSE Sensex was up 571.72 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 78,335.63 after touching an intraday high above the 78,370 mark. The Nifty 50 gained 169.95 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 24,440.80 after climbing above the 24,450 mark during the session.Broader markets also traded higher, with both the midcap and smallcap indices advancing around 0.3 per cent.Most sectoral indices remained in positive territory, led by the realty, oil & gas and auto indices, which rose more than 1 per cent each. The Nifty Media index declined more than 1 per cent.Bank Nifty was up close to 1 per cent.Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, said buying momentum strengthened after a flat start, with the Nifty moving above last week’s high, led by heavyweight stocks including HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.HDFC Bank, Hindalco, M&M lead Nifty 50 gainersAmong the Nifty 50 constituents, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and ONGC were the top gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro and Infosys were among the top losers.A total of 3,302 stocks were traded on the National Stock Exchange at the time of writing, of which 1,530 advanced, 1664 declined and 108 remained unchanged. 132 stocks scaled to 52-week high, and 38 hit the 52-week low. 94 stocks hit the upper circuit and 74 hit the lower circuit.In the midcap segment, Radico Khaitan, Dixon Technologies, Jubilant FoodWorks, GE Vernova T&D and IndusInd Bank gained 3-5 per cent. Premier Energies, Groww, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Suzlon Energy declined up to 2 per cent.Smallcaps remain firm despite selective selling. Among smallcap stocks, Welspun Corp, Aegis Logistics, Manappuram Finance, Swan Energy and Firstsource Solutions climbed 3-6 per cent.On the other hand, Zensar Technologies, Ola Electric, Deepak Fertilisers, Pine Labs and Nuvama Wealth Management fell 2-6 per cent.Shah sees immediate support for the Nifty at 24,290-24,310 and resistance at 24,540-24,560. A move above 24,560 could extend the rally towards 24,760, while a fall below 24,290 may drag the index to the 24,140-24,160 zone. For the Sensex, he pegged support at 77,900 and resistance at 78,700.More Like ThisPublished on July 6, 2026 Companies to followHindalco Industries LtdMahindra & Mahindra LtdBajaj Auto LtdTata Consultancy Services LtdKotak Mahindra Bank LtdBajaj Finserv LtdWipro LtdTata Consumer Products LtdInfosys LtdBajaj Finance Ltd