Indian equity markets concluded the week on a buoyant note on Friday, extending their winning streak to eight consecutive sessions despite ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Hopes of a US Federal Reserve rate cut, progress in India-US trade negotiations, and strong buying in defence stocks bolstered market sentiment.
The Sensex closed at 81,904.70, marking an increase of 355.97 points or 0.44 per cent.
The 30-share index opened higher at 81,758.95 compared with Thursday’s close of 81,548.73, and extended gains amid supportive global cues to reach an intraday peak of 81,992.85.
Nifty ended at 25,114.0, up 108.50 points or 0.43 per cent.
The national bourse touched a three-week high, underpinned by renewed global optimism over a potential Fed rate reduction.
Analysts noted that sentiment was further lifted by reports suggesting the EU might reject US tariff proposals on India concerning Russian oil imports.
Advances in the US-India trade dialogue are likely to maintain the upward trajectory in the near term.
The defence sector led the gains, supported by the commencement of negotiations by Indian authorities for six next-generation conventional submarines.
Top performers in the Sensex included BEL, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, Axis Bank, Maruti, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, L&T, Infosys, and PowerGrid.
Shares of Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, Trent, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, and ITC closed lower.
Sectoral Performance
Most sectoral indices ended the session in positive territory.
Nifty Financial Services rose 184 points or 0.70 per cent, Nifty Bank climbed 139 points or 0.26 per cent, Nifty Auto gained 122 points or 0.46 per cent, and Nifty IT added 107 points or 0.3 per cent, while Nifty FMCG declined.
Broader markets mirrored the rally, with Nifty Smallcap 100 up 114 points or 0.64 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 advancing 183 points or 0.32 per cent, and Nifty 100 rising 106 points or 0.41 per cent.
The Indian rupee strengthened by 0.18 per cent to 88.27, supported by mixed foreign institutional investor inflows.
Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities stated, “The dollar index remained weak below 98, providing additional strength to the rupee, while ongoing trade deal talks with the US also added optimism. Weakness in crude prices offered further minor support.”
He further added that the rupee may recover some of its recent losses, with the potential to test 87.75 in the coming sessions, while 88.50 could act as a reversal resistance level.
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