Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended the week on a positive note, rising up to 0.5% even as broader markets crashed amid rising headwinds, including oil prices crossing $117 per barrel.
Sensex jumped 308 points to close at nearly 74,460 while Nifty 50 gained 116 points to end the session at 23,053 on Friday. This came even as broader markets crashed, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 250 indices dropping up to 2%.
Trent and IndiGo shares soared up to 5% to lead gains on Sensex following their Q2 earnings announcements. Infosys, NTPC, Power Grid, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and HDFC Bank shares meanwhile fell 1-3%. Bucking the trend, SBI, M&M, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel shares fell 1-2% to lead losses on the benchmark index.
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Nifty IT rallied over 2% to lead gains among the sectoral indices as a sharp drop in global tech giants, including Alphabet and Intel’s share price, following their earnings, boosted the anti-AI sentiment. Nifty Pharma gained 1.55%. Meanwhile, Nifty Consumer Durables plunged nearly 2%.
While the benchmark indices closed in the green, the overall market breadth turned negative as the broader markets crashed. NSE saw 2,511 declines against 1,013 advances, while 109 stocks remained unchanged.
What lies ahead for Dalal Street?
Persistent inflation concerns kept equities under pressure despite the ECB and BoJ joining the Fed in holding rates, while renewed anxiety around AI valuations spilled over into Asian markets, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments. He noted that the sentiment weakened further as crude oil extended gains amid fresh reports on US-Iran tensions, triggering broad-based selling across mid- and small-caps.
Large-caps showed relative resilience, supported by IT, where selective buying emerged amid a rotation away from global AI plays, while pharma and healthcare gained on encouraging earnings and defensive demand,” the analyst said.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, advised investors to keep in mind the fact that value buying opportunities are in large-caps which are temporarily out of favour due to FII selling.
After a few sessions of consolidation, Nifty witnessed a breakout, closing above the crucial 22,800 level and decisively reclaiming its 20-DMA, said Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. He noted that the RSI has also entered a bullish crossover, indicating improving momentum.
“On the 3-hour chart, a symmetrical triangle pattern is developing, with a breakout above 23,250 required for confirmation. The short-term outlook remains positive as long as the index sustains above 22,800. Traders can consider booking partial profits near 23,250 while holding the remaining long positions with a trailing stop-loss of 22,950,” the analyst said.
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