Indian equities rallied strongly on Friday with Sensex jumping 803 points or 1.04% to make an intraday high of 77,989.44 and Nifty 50 making a high of 24,288.90, up 216 points or 0.90%. According to Business Standard, the rally came despite Japan's Nikkei tumbling more than 5% and Taiwan's Weighted Index plunging 6% as the semiconductor sell-off continued. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite each declined more than 2%, while South Korea's Kospi remained closed for trading on account of the country's Constitution Day. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices declined by as much as 0.86% and 0.61% respectively, indicating that while frontline indices surged, broader markets remained under pressure.
Information technology stocks spearheaded the market's advance after Tech Mahindra reported a 28.4% rise in consolidated net profit for the June quarter at ₹1,465 crore, with shares climbing 3% after the IT company expressed confidence about the demand environment. According to Business Standard, TCS and HCL Tech gained more than 2%, while Infosys shares surged 1.5%. Nomura reported that Tech Mahindra delivered a broad-based earnings beat in the first quarter of FY27, with the brokerage now expecting the company to outperform its large-cap peers in terms of growth during FY27 and FY28. Jio Financial Services emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty, with shares surging 6% after reporting a 155% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to ₹830 crore for the first quarter, compared with ₹325 crore in the same period last year.
Private sector banking stocks attracted strong buying ahead of their quarterly results scheduled for Saturday, with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank gaining 1.3% and 1.2% respectively, contributing 132 points and 110 points to the benchmark Sensex. As reported by Business Standard, VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, noted that one trigger for today's rally could be the results of major banks expected on Saturday (HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank). Reliance Industries shares were up 2% to trade at ₹1,321, contributing 160 points to the Sensex's rally as the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is expected to announce its first-quarter FY2027 results after market hours on Friday. UltraTech Cement, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv and few other stocks were trading in the red with marginal losses, bucking the broader market trend.
The war between Iran and the US continued to escalate further with US military completing its latest wave of strikes on Iran at President Donald Trump's direction and marking a sixth consecutive night of American strikes. According to The Times of India, investor sentiment was also weighed down by rising crude oil prices following the escalation of the Iran-US conflict, with Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatening Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade, saying "The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one." The Nifty 50 declined 158.95 points (0.66%) to close at 24,052.05 on Tuesday, while the Sensex lost 561.46 points to settle at 77,054.94, as renewed geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiment.
The rupee gained 14 paise to 96.28 against the US dollar on Friday, providing additional support to the market rally after the domestic currency depreciated for the fourth straight day on Thursday, shedding 17 paise to settle at 96.42. According to Business Standard, Rajesh Palviya, head of research at Axis Direct, noted that the 23,900–23,800 zone remains a crucial support area. A sustained move above 24,150 could trigger fresh momentum towards 24,300, whereas a break below support may invite another round of profit booking. VK Vijayakumar from Geojit Investments noted that FIIs have turned positive in the last one month, even though they sold equity for ₹4,206 crore on Thursday, suggesting that FIIs could find value in India if the rout continues in South Korea.
