The Nifty 50 extended its winning streak for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, closing at 25,910.05, up 30.90 points or 0.12 per cent, as investors cheered the National Democratic Alliance’s decisive victory in the Bihar assembly elections. The BSE Sensex ended at 84,562.78, gaining 84.11 points or 0.10 per cent, after trading in a narrow range through most of the session before a sharp surge in the final 30 minutes propelled indices higher.
The NDA’s thumping majority in Bihar, which exceeded most exit poll predictions, reinforced expectations of policy continuity and political stability, significantly boosting investor confidence. Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said, “Global equity markets were mostly positive in this week, and the Indian equity markets also delivered decent weekly returns. BSE 30 index and NSE 50 index moved around 1 per cent higher this week.”
Market breadth, however, weakened slightly with 2,185 stocks declining against 1,978 advances on the BSE, where 4,319 stocks were traded. As many as 178 stocks hit the upper circuit while 168 touched the lower circuit. A total of 118 stocks reached their 52-week highs, while 146 hit 52-week lows.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty India Defence emerged as the top gainer, ending 1.36 per cent higher, followed by Nifty PSU Banks which rose 1.17 per cent. Nifty Financial Services advanced 0.35 per cent to 27,491.85, while Nifty Bank gained 0.23 per cent to close at 58,517.55. On the losing side, Nifty IT and Nifty Metal led the decline.
TMCV was the star performer among individual stocks, surging 3.20 per cent to ₹331.00 from its previous close of ₹320.75, with massive volumes of 16.55 crore shares traded. Eternal followed with a 2.15 per cent gain to ₹304.15 from ₹297.75. Bharat Electronics Limited climbed 1.60 per cent to ₹426.50 from ₹419.80, while Axis Bank advanced 1.57 per cent to ₹1,244.40 from ₹1,225.20. Trent rounded off the top gainers, rising 1.52 per cent to ₹4,392.00 from ₹4,326.40.
On the downside, Infosys led the losers, falling 2.33 per cent to ₹1,505.80 from ₹1,541.80, followed by Eicher Motors which declined 2.27 per cent to ₹6,699.50 from ₹6,855.00. Tata Steel dropped 1.50 per cent to ₹174.00 from ₹176.65, while TMPV and HDFC Life fell 1.27 per cent each to ₹392.90 and ₹772.30, respectively.
Chouhan noted that “the Q2FY26 earnings season showed subdued trends in mass-consumption, uptick in select discretionary segments, modest IT services demand and moderate loan growth for banks.” He added that with the earnings season concluding, “the market moves back to macro data point, geo-political development and news related to the India-US tariff resolution.”
The Indian rupee traded in a narrow range near 88.70 against the dollar, as the dollar index remained flat around 99.20. Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said, “With no major US data releases due to recent shutdown, the market stayed largely dependent on flows, where mixed FII activity and consistent DII buying kept the rupee in a confined band.”
In commodities, gold prices weakened to ₹1,25,600 from this week’s high of ₹1,27,000 as Federal Reserve members suggested delayed rate cuts could impact bullion. Trivedi noted, “Gold is expected to remain volatile within a range of ₹1,24,000–₹1,27,500.”
Looking ahead, Nilesh Jain, Head of Technical Research at Centrum Broking, said, “A sustained move above 26,000 could spark short covering and open the path towards 26,200, followed by 26,500 in the near term.” Sudeep Shah from SBI Securities added that investors would now shift focus to “upcoming RBI MPC and US Fed FOMC meetings,” which could provide the next directional trigger for markets.