The Indian stock market closed another week on a subdued note, with NSE's Nifty rising 20.15 points or 0.1% to close at 24,252, while BSE's Sensex ended flat at 77,540.83 on Friday. For the week, both indices declined 0.5% and 0.6% respectively, after ending marginally lower in the previous week as well. The Nifty remained confined to a tight trading band through the session, with limited directional momentum as markets faced headwinds from rising energy costs. Market Update at 12:40 PM: The Sensex was trading near 77,560 levels, up around 20 to 30 points, while the Nifty 50 hovered around 24,240 levels with marginal gains of nearly 0.02%. Market Update at Friday's close: The Sensex ended flat at 77,540.83, while the Nifty 50 closed at 24,252, up 0.1%, with Nifty's Volatility Index rising 4.1% to 11.2 Friday, indicating some caution among market participants. The market recovery seen in the previous session has helped stabilise sentiment, but buyers are still waiting for stronger triggers before taking aggressive positions.
WTI crude was trading near $88.15 per barrel, gaining around 3% as Brent crude moved towards a one-month high above $93 per barrel, with Brent crude futures reaching over $94 a barrel on Friday evening and prices staying above the $90 mark for the entire week. The US has announced plans to impose what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as the "toughest sanctions in history" on Iran, adding a further geopolitical risk premium to energy prices around the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation in geopolitical tensions took Brent crude oil futures to over $94 a barrel on Friday evening, and prices were above the $90 mark for the entire week. Sudeep Shah from SBI Securities noted that "risk appetite remains subdued amid the sharp surge in Brent crude oil prices, which has kept traders cautious and restricted any meaningful upside in the frontline indices." The US Fed's intervention to cool 30-year US bond yields provided some interim relief during the week, while higher U.S. yields can reduce the attractiveness of emerging-market assets and influence foreign institutional investment flows. The Dollar Index weakened, supporting precious metals, with spot gold trading near $4,514.23 per ounce and had gained around 3.2% during the week.
Bank Nifty displayed relative strength, with HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and ICICI Bank identified as the top three contributors to Nifty's gains at midday, as per The Hindu BusinessLine. Banking stocks remained relatively stable, with the Nifty Bank index trading in a narrow range as investors tracked interest rate expectations, credit growth trends and upcoming policy cues. The Nifty Midcap 150 gained 0.1% and Nifty Small-cap 250 rose 0.4%, reflecting selective buying in smaller companies despite caution in frontline indices. On the BSE, 2,177 stocks advanced and 2,152 declined at Friday's close, with 2,177 advancing and 2,152 declining stocks out of 4,564 total traded. Of the total 4,564 stocks traded on Friday, 2,177 advanced and 2,152 declined at the close, though Nifty's Advance-Decline Ratio remained weak at 18:32, indicating weak breadth among large caps despite the positive headline number. Sectoral performance remained uneven, with Nifty IT declining around 0.5% as investors booked profits after recent gains, while Nifty Realty emerged as the top-performing sector.
Power Grid Corporation led Nifty 50 gainers with a 2.25% rise to ₹270.75 on heavy volumes of 1,17,81,664 shares worth ₹31,988.40 lakh, making it the standout performer of the session. HDFC Life Insurance gained 1.37% to ₹549.45 on 18,51,550 shares worth ₹10,084.65 lakh, while Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1.35% to ₹402.70 on volumes of 89,99,098 shares worth ₹36,261.87 lakh. HDFC Bank advanced 0.88% to ₹731.45, with 2,01,13,226 shares changing hands worth ₹1,46,925.10 lakh, the highest traded value among gainers. On the losing side, Cipla was the top decliner, falling 1.77% to ₹1,412.50, followed by IndiGo dropping 1.72% to ₹5,076.00. Welspun Corp emerged among the biggest gainers, rising 11.8% after securing its largest-ever single pipe supply order worth around USD 1.8 billion, while Urban Company gained 4.4% after UBS initiated coverage on the home services platform with a positive view and a price target of ₹180.
Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers of ₹543 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors remained strong buyers with net purchases of ₹2,124 crore in the cash segment. Strong buying by domestic institutions has helped cushion the impact of continued foreign selling and provided stability to Indian equities. For the week, Foreign Institutional Investors recorded net sales of ₹583.36 crore on August 20, while Domestic Institutional Investors remained strong buyers with net purchases of ₹3,537.71 crore. In precious metals, COMEX Gold was up 0.41% at $4,577, with MCX Gold trading at ₹1,60,630, up 0.22%, near record levels with RSI in overbought territory at 73.02. COMEX Silver extended its rally to near $69, up 1.27%, on course for a third straight weekly gain, while MCX Silver held near ₹2,45,000, up 0.64%. Sunny Agrawal from SBI Securities said the US-Iran geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on markets this week, resulting in subdued trading and range-bound moves. "We will continue to watch for any positive geopolitical developments or a cooling off in oil prices over the weekend," Agrawal said. "If not, the Nifty is likely to remain in the 24,000-24,500 range and see news flow-driven moves." Ruchit Jain from Motilal Oswal noted that crude remains the market's biggest worry, and if it starts to cool off, the Nifty may soon break past its near-term resistance of 24,500-24,600.
