Indian equities demonstrated remarkable resilience on Friday, delivering their biggest gains in over a month with the Nifty 50 rising 261.55 points (1.1%) to 24,334.3 and Sensex gaining 964.58 points (1.25%) to 78,151.45. According to The Economic Times, the Nifty 50 was the only major Asian equity index in positive territory as domestic financial and heavyweight stocks offset widespread regional weakness. This performance came despite Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 4.03%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declining 1.8%, China's Shanghai Composite losing 3.05%, Taiwan dropping 6.5%, and South Korean markets closed but having fallen 6.4% at Thursday's close. The divergence reflects strong domestic institutional support and selective stock picking in Indian markets, with Sham Chandak from Elios Financial Services noting that our markets were insulated from the Asian selling due to the lack of AI play.
Indian technology stocks demonstrated remarkable resilience on Friday, with the Nifty IT index rising 1.75% as the sector bucked global headwinds. As reported by The Economic Times, "With the shaky AI trend trading globally, Indian IT services stocks have taken a breather and are partially aided by better-than-expected earnings," said Sham Chandak from Elios Financial Services. The Nifty IT index saw a minor dip, while the broader Nifty 50 index edged higher, with analysts noting that investor concerns have eased due to better-than-expected sector performance and constructive management commentary, providing a positive backdrop for the technology sector despite global market volatility.
Reliance Industries emerged as the biggest contributor to Nifty gains, rising 2.6% ahead of its after-hours earnings, followed by HDFC Bank contributing 1.4% to the rally. According to The Economic Times, "Major banking stocks like HDFC, ICICI, Kotak and Axis are set to announce their earnings on Saturday, and the market is going in with an expectation of good numbers," said Chandak. Financial stocks rose broadly with Bank Nifty gaining 1.6%, led by Jio Financial Services which surged 3.1% after reporting a 156% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to ₹830 crore for Q1FY27. The strong performance of financial stocks, particularly in the banking sector, provided crucial support to the broader market indices.
The Friday rally helped both benchmark indices end the week higher after declining in the previous week, with Sensex gaining 0.8% and Nifty rising 0.5% for the week. As reported by The Economic Times, the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose to ₹480.9 trillion, up by ₹37,000 crore on Friday, though it declined by ₹83,000 crore for the week. Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of ₹376 crore, while domestic institutions were net buyers of ₹1,018 crore, indicating continued domestic institutional support despite foreign outflows. Broader markets underperformed with the Nifty Midcap 150 falling 0.4% and Nifty Smallcap 250 declining 0.6% on Friday, while for the week, these indices lost 0.9% and 0.6% respectively. Market breadth remained weak with 2,588 stocks declining and 1,635 advancing, reflecting selective stock picking in the current market environment.
According to technical analysts, the Indian stock market is showing strong bullish signals with continued upward momentum expected. Ashish Katwa from Stoxbox noted that the Nifty had resumed its uptrend after three sessions of consolidation, forming its strongest bullish candle since June 12. "Options data continues to support the bullish outlook, with fresh put writing at the 24,200 and 24,000 strikes establishing a strong support base," he said. "Call unwinding at the 24,500 strike signals scope for further upside, while fresh call writing at the 24,600 and 24,700 strikes is expected to act as the immediate resistance zone." The India VIX, the market's fear gauge, rose 2.1% to 13.15, while the bias remains positive for next week, with any dip towards 24,200-24,250 presenting a buying opportunity as long as the Nifty holds above 23,970. Immediate upside targets are seen at 24,500 and 24,700, with technical indicators pointing to continued gains next week.
