Sensex Closes Lower, Still Posts Weekly Gain

India’s BSE Sensex closed about 0.8% down at 76,803 on Friday, halting a five-day advance, pressured by weakness in tech stocks following revenue growth guidance cut by Accenture. Market sentiment was also hit by foreign outflows, renewed geopolitical uncertainties and the prospect of higher US interest rates. In equities, Infosys slipped over 6%, Tata Consultancy Services dropped 3.5%, HCL Tech shed 2.7% and Tech Mahindra fell 2.5%. HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the laggards, down 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively. On the upside, top gainers included Eternal (2.2%), Bharti Airtel (1.8%), Power Grid (1.3%) and NTPC (1%). For the week, the index advanced by 1.7%.

The SENSEX Index decreased 607 points or 0.78 percent on Friday to close at 76803 points. The decline was led by Infosys (-6.48%), Tata Consultancy (-3.04%) and HCL Tech (-2.73%). On the upside, the strongest performers were Bharti Airtel (1.61%), Power Grid (1.35%) and Nestle India (1.22%).

India’s BSE Sensex fell about 0.9% to 76,684 at the open on Friday, retreating from a five-day advance as information technology stocks led losses after Accenture's latest results raised concerns about demand prospects for the sector. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech fell between 5.1% and 8.1%. Other notable laggards across sectors included HDFC Bank (-2.1%), Meesho (-1.0%), Vedanta (-1.9%), Bata India (-4.5%), and Ola Electric (-2.6%). On the upside, MTAR (3.1%), IFCI (5.7%), Paras Defence (6.0%), and HFCL (5.0%) advanced. Despite Friday's decline, the benchmark indexes remained near recent highs after gaining in each of the previous five sessions. The index remained on track for a weekly gain of 1.5%. Market participants will be watching whether weakness in technology shares spills over into other sectors, with investors also assessing global growth signals and foreign fund flows for further direction.