Dalal Street closed the week on a strong note, with the Sensex rising over 582 points or 0.75% and the Nifty 50 gaining more than 127 points to settle at 24,334. According to reports from The Economic Times, Friday's rally was led by major stocks including Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, and Infosys, which advanced 1-4%. In contrast, Sun Pharma, Trent, Bharti Airtel, and UltraTech Cement slipped around 1% each.
The Bank Nifty posted its strongest session in weeks on Friday, jumping 1.63% to 58,521.40, with the sector's Nifty Private Bank index surging 2.12%, marking the best move of the entire trading week. As reported by Univest, Bank Nifty's Friday session was strong throughout, opening at 57,662, hitting a high of 58,596.85, and closing at 58,521.40, gaining 939.15 points. According to Kunal Singla, Associate Director at Univest, this represents one of the more convincing setups heading into the new week, with the rally being genuinely broad-based. The financial services sector led Friday's broader rally with real conviction, showing stronger signals than the more mixed patterns seen earlier in the week.
The June-quarter earnings season will gather pace in the coming week, with 256 companies set to announce their Q1 results. As reported by The Economic Times, key companies on the earnings calendar include Paytm, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Adani Power, BPCL, Eternal, IndusInd Bank, HPCL, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, and Bank of Baroda. According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, market sentiment remains supported by encouraging Q1FY27 business updates and rising optimism over a healthy earnings season.
The conflict between Iran and the US continues to escalate after a brief period of calm earlier this month. According to reports from The Economic Times, fighting intensified on Friday, with the US striking bridges and an airport in Iran, while Tehran targeted a power and desalination plant in Kuwait. Iran also said it launched fresh strikes on US facilities across the Middle East, including its first direct attack in Syria, following a sixth consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian military sites.
Crude prices have surged amid the escalating Middle East conflict, with Brent crude futures climbing around 5% to $88.10 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rising over 4% to $82.49. As reported by The Economic Times, both benchmarks hit their highest levels since mid-June. For the week, Brent and WTI gained about 16%, marking Brent's third straight weekly advance and WTI's second. The rally comes after the collapse of the US-Iran truce disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route that previously handled around 20% of global oil supplies.
