Indian equity benchmarks closed the week in positive territory on Friday, with the Sensex and Nifty posting modest gains after trimming a large part of their intraday rally. Investor sentiment improved alongside global markets amid growing optimism over a possible peace agreement between Iran and the United States.
On Friday, the BSE Sensex settled 232 points higher at 75,415, while the NSE Nifty 50 climbed around 65 points to close at 23,719. During the session, the Sensex had surged to an intraday high of 75,811, and the Nifty touched 23,836 before profit-booking erased part of the gains.
For the week, the Sensex advanced nearly 200 points, while the Nifty gained about 76 points. The rally added more than Rs 2.4 lakh crore to the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms, taking the total valuation to around Rs 463 lakh crore.
Banking And Consumption Stocks Drive Market Rally
Buying interest remained concentrated in private banks and consumption-linked counters. Shares of Trent, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Hindustan Unilever gained between 1 per cent and 3 per cent, emerging as the top performers on the Sensex.
On the other hand, Sun Pharma, ITC, Power Grid, Bharat Electronics and Bharti Airtel ended lower by as much as 3 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Services indices rose more than 1 per cent, helping benchmarks stay in the green. However, weakness in pharma and healthcare shares capped broader gains, with Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare indices declining over 1 per cent.
Broader markets delivered a mixed performance. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed marginally lower, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index managed slight gains.
Volatility Persists Despite Positive Global Signals
Market volatility remained elevated even as investor confidence improved. India VIX, often referred to as the fear gauge, edged slightly higher to 17.91.
On the NSE, market breadth stayed mixed, with around 1,748 stocks advancing, 1,522 declining, and 97 remaining unchanged.
“Domestic markets traded with a mild positive bias, supported by buying at lower levels and moderately constructive global cues, expecting easing tensions in the Middle East. Globally, the AI investment theme remained the primary driver, while domestically, financial stocks led the gains, with selective interest in autos and consumption,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.
He added that markets are still largely moving within a range due to continued foreign institutional investor (FII) selling, while domestic institutional investor (DII) inflows are preventing deeper declines.
“Market is in a buy-on-dips and sell-on-rallies pattern. A sustained uptrend will likely require geopolitical stability and softer oil prices, which would strengthen macro conditions and improve FII sentiment, especially as corporates head into a weak Q1FY27,” he said.
Rupee Recovers After RBI Intervention
The Indian rupee staged a sharp rebound on Friday, strengthening by 63 paise to close at 95.73 against the US dollar. Earlier, the domestic currency had fallen close to the 97 mark, hitting a record low before intervention measures by the Reserve Bank of India helped stabilise the market.
“The recovery in rupee is currently being driven more by profit booking and softer crude prices rather than any major structural reversal, though lower oil prices can continue to provide temporary relief to the currency,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities.
Global Markets Rally On Iran-US Peace Deal Hopes
Global equities also saw strong gains after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted at possible progress in negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
“I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that’ll advance this further,” Rubio told reporters.
However, tensions remain unresolved over Iran’s uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz. While a ceasefire announced on April 8 remains in place, both Tehran and Washington have continued issuing warnings, keeping markets cautious.
