Indian benchmark equity indices ended lower on Friday, extending losses for a fifth consecutive session as persistent geopolitical tensions in West Asia and renewed concerns over US trade tariffs weighed on investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex fell 331 points, or 0.43 per cent, to close at 76,059.17, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 102 points, or 0.43 per cent, to settle at 23,767.70.
According to Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, a SEBI-registered online trading and wealth-tech firm, investors remained cautious amid geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East and fresh concerns over US tariffs. Weakness across Asian markets also reinforced the risk-off sentiment, leading to broad-based selling despite signs of easing pressure in energy markets.
Sectoral indices on the NSE ended mixed. Nifty Auto dropped 1.13 per cent, Nifty Realty declined 0.59 per cent, Nifty Metal fell 0.57 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas slipped 0.43 per cent, Nifty Financial Services lost 0.41 per cent, Nifty Pharma declined 0.38 per cent and Nifty Consumer Durables edged down 0.15 per cent.
On the positive side, Nifty Media gained more than 2 per cent, Nifty IT advanced 0.87 per cent and Nifty FMCG ended marginally higher by 0.06 per cent.
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, HCLTech, Wipro, Cipla, ITC and Jio Financial Services were the top gainers, while Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Tata Consumer Products and Hindalco were among the biggest losers.
In the commodities market, Brent crude was trading around 4 per cent lower at USD 96.73 per barrel at the time of filing the report.
Globally, financial markets remained cautious amid the ongoing US-Iran tensions and fresh US tariff announcements, resulting in mixed performances across major global equity markets.
Among Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 3 per cent, Taiwan’s Weighted Index declined 2.74 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.05 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI lost 6 per cent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was the only major regional benchmark to close higher, gaining 0.12 per cent.
(With ANI inputs)
