Domestic benchmark equity indices saw a decline on Friday, mainly due to weakness in the financial sector. However, this did not overshadow the weekly gains driven by a post-results rally in key index constituents and reduced concerns about the Middle East.
The NSE Nifty 50 dropped 0.67% to 22,420, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.82% to 73,730, ending a five-day winning streak. Nevertheless, for the week, the Nifty 50 and Sensex gained around 1.25% and 1% respectively.
Analysts provided insights on the market pulse. Jatin Gedia of Sharekhan noted, “The Nifty faced selling pressure and closed weak for the day around 120 points lower.” Rupak De of LKP Securities mentioned, “Nifty remained under selling pressure as it failed to sustain above the crucial level of 22500.”
In the US, stocks closed higher on Friday, boosted by strong quarterly results from tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft, along with moderate inflation data. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded their biggest weekly gains since early November 2023.
European shares also performed well, with the STOXX 600 index closing 1.2% higher for a 1.8% weekly gain, the largest since late January.
On the technical front, Nifty formed a dark cloud cover candlestick on the daily chart, indicating a potential bearish reversal. The short-term trend seems to have reversed down, with immediate support at 22300.
Stocks like HUDCO, Westlife Foodworld, and Tech Mahindra showed bullish signals, while Borosil Renewables and Tata Consumer displayed bearish signs according to the Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator.
In terms of trading activity, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, and Tech Mahindra were among the most active stocks in value terms, while Tata Steel and Kotak Bank were highly traded in volume terms.
Certain stocks like Hindalco and Eicher Motors saw strong buying interest, reaching fresh 52-week highs, while Sheela Foam hit their 52-week lows.
Overall, market breadth favored bulls, with more stocks ending in the green compared to those in the red.