Indian equity markets witnessed a strong recovery on Friday, with Sensex closing at 72,382.47, up 472.77 points or 0.66%, and Nifty settling at 22,555.75, gaining 133.80 points or 0.60%. According to Mint, the Nifty 50 closed Friday's session 1.30% higher, recovering much of the previous day's losses and marking the biggest single-day gain since August. The recovery helped the index post a weekly gain of 0.44%, as Friday's session accounted for the bulk of the gains after the market had suffered its biggest weekly loss in 25 years. The rally was largely supported by strong gains in financial stocks as investors cheered the companies' strong quarterly business updates, with IT stocks lending much-needed support following TCS' September-quarter results*.*
The session concluded with broad-based gains led by the Services sector, which outperformed the market significantly. According to latest market data, Services sector gained 2.19%, while Castings, Forgings & Fastners declined 1.00% and Healthcare Services fell 0.77%. While banking and financials showed stability through large block trades and positive business updates, energy and healthcare sectors dragged on overall sentiment with notable declines. The outperformance of the Services sector indicates a potential longer-term shift in market leadership away from capital-intensive industries, suggesting that FMCG, energy and banking stocks continue to lead gains in the current recovery phase.
ITC emerged as the top Sensex gainer, rising 5.08%, followed by BSE (+4.39%), TMPV (+3.31%), Shriram Finance (+2.79%), and Bajaj Finance (+2.29%). According to The Times of India, the recovery was broad-based with FMCG, energy and banking stocks leading gains. Adani Ports gained 3% during the period, with the company reporting record second-quarter fiscal 2027 throughput of 142.3 million tonnes, marking 15% growth over the year-ago period. Among the top gainers on BSE, ITC, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, Reliance, Bharti Airtel, TCS, NTPC, Maruti, Axis Bank, and Power Grid led the recovery. On the losing side, HCL Tech fell 3.31%, followed by Max Healthcare (-2.55%), HDFC Bank (-2.27%), Apollo Hospitals (-1.83%), and Asian Paints (-1.70%).
Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables indices jumped around 2% each to lead the sectoral gains, while Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Pharma slipped nearly 1% each. According to The Times of India, the recovery was led by strength across select counters following positive quarterly business updates. Among the top gainers on NSE, ITC, BSE, TMPV, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Eternal, Reliance, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS, ONGC, Power Grid, Axis Bank, and Power Grid were the major gainers. However, Nifty Healthcare emerged as the top laggard, with HCL Tech, Asian Paint, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Infosys, BEL, Tech Mahindra among others being the major drags. Religare Broking Limited noted that the recovery was supported by strength across select counters following positive quarterly business updates.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, domestic equities staged a relief rally, supported by value buying and short covering after the recent sharp correction. He noted that IT stocks outperformed on the back of a strong start to the Q2 earnings season and rising confidence in AI-driven revenue opportunities. However, Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, cautioned that despite Friday's strong advance, the broader outlook remains cautious, as the rebound appears more consistent with a relief rally from oversold levels than a confirmed reversal in the market's trend. Mint reports that persistent foreign fund outflows, elevated energy prices, rupee weakness and expectations of tighter monetary conditions remain key headwinds. Analysts expect that lower crude prices could revive foreign investor interest, potentially slowing the recent selling spree, with foreign investors having already offloaded Indian equities worth ₹44,166 crore in October in just five trading sessions.
