Sensex Closes Almost Flat

India’s BSE Sensex finished virtually unchanged at 77,541 on Friday, as market sentiment remained cautious amid elevated oil prices and global bond yields, alongside persistent geopolitical uncertainty. Gains in financials and utilities helped to offset weakness in technology, autos and FMCG stocks. Heavyweight private lenders advanced more than 1%, with Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.1%) and ICICI Bank (0.5%) leading the gains after Goldman Sachs began coverage of 14 Indian banks, pointing to improving earnings prospects. Bernstein expects healthy bank growth in FY2027, underpinned by robust liquidity and a recovery in nominal credit growth. Defensive utilities such as Power Grid and NTPC added 2.7% and 0.6%, respectively. Major losers included Trent (-1.5%), Maruti (-1.5%), IndiGo (-1.4%), HCL Technologies (-1.2%), Hindustan Unilever (-1%) and Infosys (-0.9%). For the week, the index fell about 0.6%.

The SENSEX Index decreased 15 points or 0.02 percent on Friday to close at 77522 points. The decline was led by Maruti Suzuki (-1.55%), Infosys (-0.97%) and Tech Mahindra (-0.95%). On the upside, the strongest performers were Power Grid (2.87%), Nestle India (1.71%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.42%).

India’s BSE Sensex edged up about 0.1% to 77,595 on Friday, following gains in the previous session, although elevated crude oil prices and pressure in global bond markets capped gains. Crude prices, hovering around one-month highs, remained a key concern for Indian equities given their potential impact on inflation, corporate costs, and the country’s import bill. In primary markets, appliance maker Atomberg Technologies filed draft papers for an initial public offering, proposing a fresh issue of up to 4.5 billion rupees and an offer for sale of up to 76.5 million shares. Among individual stocks, Welspun surged about 12.1% after securing a $1.8 billion contract to supply pipes from its US manufacturing facility, marking the company’s largest-ever single order. Netweb, Dhoot Transmission, Hindustan Copper, and Hindustan Zinc also advanced between 1.4% and 3.4%, while Shiprocket, Shadowfax Tech, and TVS Motor declined 3.0%, 2.2%, and 0.7%, respectively.