Indian equity markets demonstrated strong performance during Friday's trading session, with the S&P BSE Sensex jumping 536.24 points or 0.71% to 75,714.93 and the Nifty 50 index surging 158.25 points or 0.67% to 23,812.65 as of 13:30 IST. According to reports from Business Standard, the broader market indices also participated in the rally, with the BSE 150 MidCap Index rising 0.28% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index adding 0.02%. Market breadth remained robust with 2,320 shares rising and 1,666 shares falling on the BSE, while 213 shares remained unchanged. The headline equity benchmarks traded with strong gains in afternoon trade, supported by renewed hopes of an Iran-US peace deal and easing global concerns, which boosted investor sentiment.
In the commodities sector, Brent crude for July 2026 settlement advanced $2.98 or 2.91% to $105.56 a barrel, as reported by Business Standard. The rupee showed strength against the dollar, with the partially convertible rupee hovering at 95.8825 compared with its previous close of 96.3650. This currency movement provided additional support to the broader market sentiment during the trading session.
Several major Nifty50 constituents led the market rally with significant gains. According to Business Standard, Trent emerged as the top gainer with a 2.94% increase, followed by Shriram Finance at 2.91%, Wipro at 2.68%, Axis Bank at 2.60%, and Asian Paints at 2.40%. Private bank, financial services, and auto stocks advanced, while media, healthcare, and pharma shares declined. These strong performances across banking, technology, and consumer sectors contributed to the overall market momentum during the session.
Despite the overall market gains, some stocks faced significant pressure during the trading session. As reported by Business Standard, Max Healthcare Institute declined 4.65%, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries dropped 1.60%, Power Grid Corporation of India fell 1.52%, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation decreased 1.42%, and ITC declined 1.33%. Additionally, Quick Heal Technologies declined 6.63% after reporting a widened consolidated net loss of ₹19.94 crore in Q4 FY26 compared to a net loss of ₹3.25 crore in Q4 FY25, with revenue from operations falling 25.19% year-on-year to ₹48.73 crore.
Several companies reported impressive quarterly results that boosted investor sentiment. According to Business Standard, Laxmi Dental hit an upper limit of 20% after reporting strong consolidated Q4 FY26 earnings with profit after tax surging 136.1% year-on-year to ₹10.09 crore from ₹4.27 crore in Q4 FY25. Life Insurance Corporation of India advanced 2.36% following a 23.3% rise in consolidated net profit to ₹23,467.18 crore in Q4 FY26 from ₹19,038.67 crore in Q4 FY25, with total income rising 14.7% year-on-year to ₹2,79,909.41 crore. Gail (India) added 1.80% after reporting a 38.40% drop in standalone net profit to ₹1,262.18 crore on a 2.54% fall in revenue from operations to ₹34,797.03 crore in Q4 FY26. VA Tech Wabag rallied 2.24% after the company reported a 28.6% jump in consolidated net profit to ₹128.30 crore on a 22.3% rise in revenue to ₹1,414.4 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q4 FY25.
