The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies grew by Rs 1.74 lakh crore today.
Top Gainers & Losers
The Nifty breadth tilted in favour of bulls with 36 stocks ending the session in the green, while the remaining 14 were in the red. The top gainers were Hindalco Industries, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), SBI Life and Hindustan Unilever (HUL), while the losers included recently listed Kwality Wall’s (India), Eternal, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Grasim Industries.
Individually, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Reliance Industries (RIL) contributed most to the gains in Nifty and Sensex by virtue of their weights.
Sector-wise, PSU Banks remained the top gainers with Nifty PSU Banks closing 1.7% higher. Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG were other big movers. Meanwhile, Nifty IT settle 1% lower. Select media stocks like Zee, Network18, and Nazara Technologies also witnessed selling pressure.
Expert View
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said Indian equities rebounded after yesterday’s sharp correction, led by strong buying in large caps as investors favoured their better risk‑reward over premium‑valued midcaps.
“Sentiment improved on clearer trade‑agreement signals and India’s entry into Pax Silica, which is expected to strengthen supply‑chain security in AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals. Volatility stayed elevated, with the India VIX spiking even as geopolitical tensions still linger. Softer inflation data from Japan supported expectations of accommodative global policy. Structurally, markets remain constructive, though near‑term moves are likely to stay flow‑driven amid global uncertainties, keeping the buy‑on‑dips, sell‑on‑rallies trend intact,” he said.
Global Markets
Asian markets traded mixed with Indian benchmarks and the FTSE Straits Times Index being the only outliers. Others, including China’s Shanghai Composite, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, settled with cuts of up to 1.3%.
Most major European markets were trading green around 4 pm India time. UK’s FTSE 100 (0.70%), Germany’s DAX (0.30%), French CAC 40 (1%), Spain’s IBEX 35 (0.60%) and Stoxx 600 (0.50%) are traded in the green.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee slipped on Friday to post its steepest weekly fall in a month as likely portfolio outflows and lingering geopolitical tensions weighed on the currency, pushing it close to the 91-per-dollar mark. The rupee closed at 90.9825 per dollar, down 0.3% on the day and 0.4% for the week.
Central bank intervention, including on Friday, helped keep the currency above 91 despite broad-based dollar demand from importers and paring of bullish positions, traders said.
There was a meaningful supply of dollars from the central bank in the market today, Reuters reported, quoting a trader at a Mumbai-based bank, adding he expected the rupee to trade between 90.50 and 91.50 in the near term.
Crude Impact
Crude oil prices reversed their morning winning trends. They have been trading higher amid ongoing tension between the US and Iran on the issue of the latter’s alleged uranium enrichment programme.
While the US WTI was trading at $66.06 per barrel, slipping by $0.37 or 0.56%, the Brent prices hovered around $71.38 mark, falling by $0.28 or 0.39%.
Higher crude oil prices do not augur well for the equity markets, fuelling inflation fears.