Indian benchmark indexes ended higher on Friday, with the Sensex gaining 231.99 points (0.31%) to settle at 75,415.35 and the Nifty 50 rising 64.60 points (0.27%) to close at 23,719.30. According to IANS, the session was supported by a sharp rise in the rupee against the U.S. dollar and gains in banking and financial services stocks. The Nifty's immediate support is at 23,600, with analysts warning that a move below that level could push the index toward 23,400, while a break below 23,400 could trigger a sharper correction. In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap 100 ended 0.14% higher, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.15%. As per Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, domestic markets remained supported by lower-level buying and stable global cues, with markets trading with a mild positive bias.
Private banks, financial services and banking stocks outperformed the broader market, while pharma, healthcare and media stocks ended lower. According to Geojit Investments, Axis Bank rose 2.52%, ICICI Bank gained 1.77%, HDFC Bank added 0.97%, and Bajaj Finance climbed 0.85%. The Nifty Private Bank rose 1.49% and Nifty Financial Services gained 1.13%, making them the top-performing sectors of the day. Other notable gainers included Trent, up 3.01%, Asian Paints, which gained 1.56%, and UltraTech Cement, up 0.82%. However, weakness in IT, pharma and media stocks limited the market's upside, with TCS falling 0.45%, Infosys declining 0.61%, and Sun Pharma dropping 2.43%. Market breadth remained neutral, with 249 stocks in the Nifty 500 universe closing in the red and the BSE advances-declines ratio settling at 1.12.
The rupee strengthened sharply during the trading session, rising 0.53% to close at 95.69 against the U.S. dollar, moving above the 96-per-dollar mark for the first time in a week. As reported by Reuters, the recovery came after aggressive intervention by the Reserve Bank of India to slow the rupee's fall after it weakened from around 94.50 to nearly 97 against the dollar. The currency's recovery follows the Reserve Bank of India's active intervention in the currency market through its USD/INR buy-sell swap mechanism, which helped cap excessive weakness. A softer tone in imported commodity prices, aided by easing US-Iran tensions, provided additional tailwind for the domestic currency. On spot USDINR, resistance is seen at 96.20 and support at 95.40. A stronger rupee is generally seen as positive for markets because it reduces imported inflation and supports foreign investor confidence.
According to IANS, a decisive breakout from the current range is essential for the next leg of rally or correction to unfold. An analyst noted that "A breach below 23,400 could trigger a sharper correction in the market. On the higher side, a decisive move above 23,800 may induce a fresh directional upmove in the short term." Vinod Nair from Geojit Investments Limited said markets continue to remain range-bound, with strong DII inflows cushioning the downside, while persistent FII selling is limiting the upside. The market currently remains in a "buy-on-dips and sell-on-rallies" phase. Investor sentiment improved after reports suggested some progress in talks between the US and Iran aimed at ending the nearly three-month-long conflict, with hopes of geopolitical stability helping improve risk appetite globally. India VIX stood at 17.91, showing that volatility concerns still remain despite the market recovery. Traders noted that the Nifty continues to face resistance near the 23,800-23,900 zone, with markets likely to remain range-bound unless supported by stronger macroeconomic cues and sustained foreign fund inflows.
