Indian stock markets staged a strong recovery on Friday, with the BSE Sensex gaining 315.20 points or 0.43% to close at 73,895.74, while the NSE Nifty rose 77.40 points or 0.34% to finish at 23,140.50. According to latest reports, the indices recovered after value buying in blue-chip stocks across banking, oil and gas, and automobile sectors following the recent sharp sell-off. The Sensex had touched an intraday high of 73,968.05 and low of 73,477.77, marking a 490.28-point swing during the session. The recovery came after the indices had fallen to a more than three-month low in the previous session, with 19 of the 30 Sensex constituents ending in positive territory while 11 declined.
Axis Bank led Nifty 50 gainers with a 2.44 per cent rise to ₹1,215.40, followed by Asian Paints at ₹2,430.00 (+1.56 per cent) and HCL Technologies at ₹1,261.00 (+1.40 per cent). As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, realty emerged as the best-performing sector through the session. On the losing side, Max Healthcare fell the most, down 3.36 per cent to ₹1,010.90, followed by TMPV at ₹288.35 (-2.25 per cent) and Infosys at ₹995.10 (-1.91 per cent). Pharma was the worst-performing sector, with IT stocks extending their slide from Thursday, with Infosys continuing to face selling pressure for a second consecutive session.
According to Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, the zone of 22,920–22,940 will act as crucial support for the index while resistance lies in the zone of 23,230–23,250. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, he added that a slip below 22,920 could drag the Nifty toward 22,750–22,770, while a move above 23,250 could extend the rally toward 23,400. For the Sensex, Shah pegged support at 73,400 and resistance at 74,100. On the options front, meaningful call writing was seen at the 23,100 and 23,200 strikes, while the 23,000 put held substantial open interest, reflecting the market's defensive positioning. Sachin Gupta from Choice Equity Broking noted that the Sensex continues to maintain a sideways-to-bearish outlook, with 73,200–73,450 acting as the crucial support zone.
In commodities, crude oil prices declined around 2% on Friday as hopes of a potential ceasefire between the US and Iran increased. Brent crude futures dropped $2.28, or 2.1%, to settle at $104.32 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined $2.20, or 2.3%, to close at $92.41 a barrel. For the week, Brent gained less than 1% while WTI posted a weekly decline of around 8%. COMEX Gold was trading near $4,312.50, up 0.34 per cent, while COMEX Silver was at $64.25, up 0.39 per cent. The Indian rupee was holding near ₹95.93 per dollar, steady but under mild pressure.
US markets closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.51% to 7,743.41 and the Nasdaq gaining 0.48% to 27,068.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.93% to 51,828.62, bringing the volatile week to a close. For the week, the S&P 500 advanced 1.2% while the Nasdaq climbed 2%. The gains were supported by Microsoft and other artificial intelligence-linked technology stocks, though elevated oil prices and rising US Treasury yields continued to weigh on investor sentiment. South Korean equities ended the holiday-shortened week strongly, with the Kospi rising 2.7% between September 18-23, while Japan's Nikkei 225 extended its winning streak to a fifth consecutive session, rising 1.30% to 66,364.20.
