Equity benchmarks continued to trade in positive territory on Friday’s afternoon session, supported by optimism around easing geopolitical tensions and fresh foreign fund inflows. A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, along with expectations of renewed U.S.-Iran talks and oil prices staying below $100 per barrel, boosted investor sentiment.
BSE Sensex jumped 427 points, while the Nifty 50 gained 210 points from the previous close. At 12.51 pm, Sensex traded 220 points or 0.28 per cent positive at 78,208.68, and Nifty 50 was up 65.80 points or 0.27 per cent to 24,262.55.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with the midcap index rising 0.8 per cent and the smallcap index advancing over 1 per cent at the time of writing.
Sectorally, most indices traded in the green, led by FMCG stocks, with the Nifty FMCG index climbing 2.5 per cent. Oil & gas and financial services stocks also saw strong buying interest. However, IT, consumer durables, pharma and auto stocks lagged.
FMCGs gain, Wipro, HDFC Life top losers
The Nifty IT index remained under pressure, dragged by a decline in shares, which fell around 4 per cent after reporting lacklustre quarterly results and flagging muted near-term demand due to spending cuts by US banking and financial clients.
Among Nifty 50 constituents, gains were led by Hindustan Unilever, Nestlé India, Apollo Hospitals, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consumer Products, while laggards included Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance Company, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
Emami, Colgate, HUL, Radico, United Spirits and Dabur were major gainers of nifty FMCG index.
Shares of Jio Financial, Mastek, Bajaj Consumer Care, Aditya Birla Money and more will remain in focus today due to Q4 results.
Market breadth remained strong, with 2,164 stocks advancing, 927 declining and 107 remaining unchanged out of 3,198 traded on the NSE around midday. As many as 111 stocks (including BSE, Thangamayil, GMDC and ABB) hit 52-week highs, while only four touched 52-week lows. Additionally, 114 stocks were locked in the upper circuit, while 20 hit the lower circuit.
Among the most active stocks by volume, Wipro led the chart with 554.45 lakh shares traded, declining 2.76 per cent to ₹204.46. It was followed by Jio Financial Services with a volume of 243.21 lakh shares, rising 0.39 per cent to ₹242.20.
ITC saw 240.81 lakh shares traded, gaining 1.14 per cent to ₹306.85, while HDFC Bank recorded 232.17 lakh shares, up 0.57 per cent at ₹800.00. Meanwhile, Eternal Limited witnessed trading volume of 212.68 lakh shares, slipping 0.53 per cent to ₹251.35.
Midcap and smallcap movers
Within the midcap space, stocks such as Colgate-Palmolive India, Suzlon Energy, Radico Khaitan, Godfrey Phillips India and KEI Industries surged 4–6 per cent. On the downside, Kalyan Jewellers, Groww, Coromandel International, Ashok Leyland and Swiggy declined 2–5 per cent.
In the smallcap segment, Aegis Logistics, Ircon International, Ola Electric gained 5–8 per cent, while Afcons Infrastructure, , Piramal Finance and Aether Industries fell 1–4 per cent.
On the BSE, stocks such as Nava Limited, MMTC and , while Electrosteel Castings, Kalyan Jewellers, Afcons Infrastructure, VA Tech Wabag and Wipro declined 3–5 per cent.
On Thursday, benchmarks settled marginally lower. Sensex declined 122.56 points or 0.16 per cent to 77,988.68, and Nifty 50 dipped 34.55 points or 0.14 per cent to 24,196.75.