The SENSEX Index Closes 0.09% Lower

India’s BSE Sensex closed marginally down at 78,009.25 on Friday, the lowest level since July 30, reversing gains from the prior day. Investors stayed cautious amid persistent Middle East tensions, elevated crude oil prices and renewed foreign outflows. Bharti Airtel led gainers, up 2.5%, followed by Adani Ports (1.8%). ICICI Bank, Titan, M&M and HDFC Bank also advanced, rising 0.6%, 0.6%, 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. Asian Paints was the biggest laggard, falling 1.7%. IndiGo declined 1.4%, NTPC lost 1.2%, Power Grid fell 1.1% and Tech Mahindra dropped 0.9%. Reliance Industries fell 0.6%, partly weighed down by MSCI’s decision to reduce its weight in the flagship index as part of its periodic review. The benchmark index recorded a weekly decline of about 0.6%.

The SENSEX Index decreased 71 points or 0.09 percent on Friday to close at 78009 points. The decline was led by Tata Motors (-4.46%), Asian Paints (-1.83%) and NTPC (-1.28%). On the upside, the strongest performers were Bharti Airtel (2.73%), Adani Ports (2.41%) and Eternal Limited (1.79%).

India’s BSE Sensex fell about 0.4% to 77,772 on Friday, reversing gains from the previous session and reaching its lowest level since July 29, as investors remained cautious amid persistent Middle East tensions and elevated crude oil prices. Investor sentiment was also weighed by weakness in financial stocks after the Reserve Bank of India proposed loan-pricing changes that could reduce banks’ pricing flexibility and pressure loan yields and margins. Among individual stocks, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles was under pressure, falling about 4.7% after the automaker reported an 80% drop in first-quarter profit, hurt by higher costs, foreign-exchange losses and weakness at Jaguar Land Rover. Meanwhile, LG Electronics India climbed about 6.8% after reporting a more than 27% rise in first-quarter profit and retaining its full-year revenue growth target, helped by strong summer demand for air conditioners and refrigerators. The benchmark is on track for a weekly decline of about 0.9%.