Domestic equity markets ended the week under pressure on Friday as renewed military actions near the Strait of Hormuz weighed on investor sentiment, dragging both benchmark indices lower. According to reports from The Times of India, the BSE Sensex settled at 77,844.53, down 516.34 points or 0.66 per cent, while the Nifty 50 closed at 24,176.15, falling 150.50 points or 0.62 per cent. The decline reflects investor concerns over geopolitical developments affecting global trade routes, with the Nifty 50 opening weak at 24,233.65 and hitting an intraday low of 24,126.65 before settling just below the 24,200 mark. The Bank Nifty was under significant pressure, declining over 1 per cent to close just above the 55,300 level, while the India VIX index ended marginally higher, indicating a slight rise in market volatility. Latest reports indicate that oil prices have surged significantly, with Brent crude rising 2.07% to $103.37 and WTI crude climbing 2.9% to $97.56, reversing earlier easing trends as the Iran war continues to impact energy markets.
Despite the overall market decline, several stocks managed to post strong gains. As reported by The Times of India, Titan Company emerged as the top performer with a 4.68% gain to ₹4,509, followed by Apollo Hospital which rose 3.32% to ₹8,097. Asian Paints gained 2.74% to ₹2,600, while Tata Consumer advanced 2.13% to ₹1,176. The Nifty 50 top gainers included Adani Ports SEZ (+1.60%), Infosys (+1.42%), HCL Tech (+1.27%), Tech Mahindra (+1.03%), and Bajaj Auto (+1.01%). On a weekly basis, the Nifty 50 index still managed to close 0.74 per cent higher, extending gains for the second consecutive week despite Friday's decline.
The banking sector faced significant selling pressure, with PSU banks leading the decline and extending losses for the second consecutive session. According to The Times of India, SBI was the worst performer, falling 6.66% to ₹1,019, while HDFC Bank dropped 1.91% to ₹780.85. Axis Bank declined 1.89% to ₹1,268, and Bajaj Finance fell 1.79% to ₹955.35. Among the top losers on the Nifty 50, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Axis Bank came under pressure during the session, as financial stocks came under significant pressure. The Bank Nifty was under significant pressure, declining over 1 per cent to close just above the 55,300 level, with the Nifty PSU Bank index being the worst hit, falling 3.06 per cent.
The IT sector emerged as the top performer among the Sensex constituents, with Infosys gaining 1.42% to ₹1,179 and HCL Tech rising 1.27% to ₹1,198. As reported by The Times of India, Tech Mahindra also posted gains of 1.03% to ₹1,463. On Friday, the Nifty IT index was the top performer, rising 1.21 per cent, while the Nifty Pharma index emerged as the second-best performer, supported by defensive buying and strength in technology shares. This sectoral outperformance helped limit the overall market decline and provided some support to the broader indices despite the geopolitical headwinds.
The market decline reflects broader concerns about geopolitical tensions affecting global trade routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz. According to The Times of India, Asian markets were mostly lower, indicating regional sentiment weakness. Crude oil prices remained elevated, with Brent crude futures for July trading above USD 100 per barrel, up around 0.44 per cent, while WTI crude futures for June rose 0.15 per cent to USD 94.95 per barrel. The surge was driven by renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, reviving concerns of supply disruption in global energy markets. In the currency market, the Indian rupee weakened by 0.28 per cent against the U.S. dollar, closing at 94.52, largely attributed to volatile oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty. Market breadth on May 8 showed a negative bias, with 1,783 stocks declining and 1,501 advancing out of 3,385 stocks traded on the NSE.
