The Indian equity markets ended Friday's session in the red, with benchmark indices declining despite recovering from intraday lows. According to Business Standard, the BSE Sensex closed 607.08 points, or 0.78%, lower at 76,802.90, while the NSE Nifty settled down 154.90 points, or 0.64%, at 24,013.10. The decline came after a strong run in recent sessions, with the Sensex having advanced 3,577.43 points, or 4.84%, over the previous five trading days, while the Nifty had gained 1,006.4 points, or 4.34%. The weakness was visible across the broader market as well, with the BSE 150 MidCap Index climbing 0.27% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rising 0.51%, outperforming frontline indices. Market participants will closely monitor monsoon developments, FII activity, and inflation trends for directional cues. As per latest reports, the Sensex closed at 76,803, down 607 points, while the Nifty settled at 24,013, declining more than 155 points, with market breadth remaining positive on the BSE with 2,224 shares rising and 2,002 shares falling. The NSE's India VIX rose 2.34% to 12.97, indicating increased volatility expectations.
The IT sector experienced a sharp decline for the second consecutive trading session, with the Nifty IT Index tumbling 3.65% to 27,426.85 during Friday's session. Major IT stocks witnessed significant losses, with Infosys emerging as the worst performer, falling 6.50%, which represents the lowest level since December 2020. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined 3.06%, while LTIMindtree dropped 3.95%, Mphasis fell 2.94%, Tech Mahindra declined 2.33%, HCLTech dropped 2.23%, Persistent Systems fell 2.09%, Wipro declined 1.28%, and Coforge dropped 1.01%. The weakness followed Accenture's shares plunging nearly 11% on Wall Street after the global consulting firm revised its FY26 revenue growth forecast to 3-4% from its earlier guidance of 3-5%. This subdued outlook revived concerns that businesses remain cautious about discretionary spending on IT consulting and digital transformation initiatives. The decline comes after weak sentiment in global technology stocks spilled over to domestic markets, with investors exiting frontline IT names. According to latest reports, Indian technology stocks faced pressure after global IT services major Accenture lowered its guidance, triggering a sell-off in Indian IT American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and dampening sentiment across the domestic technology sector.
The banking and financial sector added significant pressure to benchmark indices, with the Nifty Bank index falling 278 points to close at 57,686. HDFC Bank featured among the top Nifty laggards, contributing to the overall market weakness. From the Sensex basket, Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd were the biggest laggards, while Bharti Airtel Ltd, Titan Company Ltd, Nestle India Ltd, NTPC Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd and Trent Ltd were the major gainers. The Nifty Bank index extended its winning streak to a fifth straight week, with IndusInd Bank and IDFC First Bank emerging as the top gainers among banking stocks during the week. Despite the decline in frontline indices, the Midcap Index rose 0.27% and the SmallCap Index climbed 0.51%, with Poonawalla Fin, Premier Explosives, Bharat Dynamics and Bharti Hexacom among the top midcap gainers. Reliance Industries fell 1.25% after announcing an initial public offering of Jio, contributing to the weakness in the benchmark indices.
Healthcare and pharma stocks bucked the broader market weakness, with Oracle Financial Services Software bucking the trend by rising 2.87% in the IT sector. MSP Steel and Power hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company entered into a power purchase agreement with Elevate Solar Energy to procure solar power, aiming to increase its renewable energy consumption. Under the agreement, MSP Steel & Power will procure power from a 10 MWp (DC) contracted solar capacity at a tariff of ₹3.17 per unit for a period of 25 years. Hiliks Technologies surged 10% after the company announced that it has entered into a subcontract agreement with KMC Constructions worth ₹95.51 crore for execution of signalling and telecommunication works in connection with the doubling of the railway track between Akanapet Junction and Medchal stations in Telangana. Desco Infratech hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company announced that it had received a Letter of Intent worth ₹15.06 crore from Sabarmati Gas for laying, installation, testing and commissioning of gas pipelines for FDODO CNG station connectivity.
Despite Friday's decline, the equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended the week (June 15-19) higher, with the Sensex and Nifty posting a second consecutive week of gains. Sectorally, all major indices ended the week in positive territory except Nifty IT. Nifty India Defence was the top-performing sectoral index, rising 7% over the week, with all its constituents closing in the green. Among Nifty stocks, Trent, Eternal, Max Healthcare, HDFC Life and IndiGo were the top gainers for the week. In the broader market, Bharat Dynamics, Premier Explosives, Kalyan Jewellers and Nykaa were among the top midcap gainers, while Tata Motors, Infosys, Cipla, TCS and Tech Mahindra were the top losers on the Nifty. From a technical perspective, Nifty 50 continues to hold above the crucial 24,000 mark, which remains an important support zone, with sustaining above this level supporting further upside towards 24,300-24,450. According to Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research at Axis Direct, buying on dips remains the preferred strategy as long as the Nifty continues to hold above the 24,000 mark, with the medium-term bullish trend remaining intact. Global markets remained mixed with US stock futures pointing to a weak start for Wall Street, while European markets traded mostly lower amid fragile Middle East truce concerns and Federal Reserve policy outlook.
