On Friday, the Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, ended in the red, pressured by declines in auto and IT stocks as investor sentiment turned cautious ahead of this week’s announcement of US reciprocal tariffs. However, intraday volatility persisted, driven by foreign inflows and optimism about a domestic growth recovery.
The benchmark BSE Sensex declined 191.51 points, or 0.25%, to close at 77,414.92, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 23,519.35, down 72.60 points, or 0.31%.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Asian markets are experiencing a new phase of consolidation as the latest U.S. tariff measures are expected to have a significant impact on major manufacturing economies, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that a rise in Japan’s CPI has contributed to the prevailing weakness.
“Domestically, the market’s upward momentum has stalled as investors evaluate the implications of these tariffs on the auto, ancillary, pharma and others sectors. Meanwhile, gold prices have reached a new high, on concerns that a deepening of the trade war could further deteriorate global economic health,” said Nair.Also read | 5 Wall Street moguls who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad — Guess what they’re saying now!
US markets
Wall Street stocks tumbled on Friday, weighed down by sharp declines in Amazon, Microsoft, and other major tech firms, as fresh U.S. economic data reignited concerns over sluggish growth and persistent inflation. Investor anxiety was further heightened by the Trump administration’s escalating tariff measures.The S&P 500 fell 1.97% to close at 5,580.94, while the Nasdaq slid 2.70% to 17,322.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also took a hit, dropping 1.69% to finish at 41,583.90.
European markets
European stocks declined on Friday as fresh US economic data deepened concerns over rising inflation, capping a turbulent week marked by new tariff announcements from the US President Donald Trump that drove investors away from riskier assets.
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.7% lower, extending its weekly loss to 1.4%—its steepest drop since December 16.
Tech view
The Nifty remained volatile on the first day of the new series before closing with weakness and since Nifty made a high around the previous swing of 23,800, the index has been consolidating, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that “going forward, 23,400 might act as immediate support. A fall below 23,400 could take Nifty towards 23,200, where crucial support is placed.”
“If Nifty holds above 24,200, it may witness further upside. On the other hand, if the Nifty does not fall below 23,400, it might rise towards 23,600 and higher,” said De.
Also read | Explained: Why banks are flying gold worth billions from London to New York amid Trump tariff fears
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
BSE (Rs 10,044 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 2,621 crore), Reliance Industries Ltd (Rs 2,319 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 1,616 crore), Zomato (Rs 1,530 crore), CDSL (Rs 1,439 crore) and HAL (Rs 1,394 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 81.77 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 9.80 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 8.49 crore), Zomato (Traded shares: 7.48 crore), NHPC (Traded shares: 7.23 crore), Capri Global (Traded shares: 6.07 crore) and IDFC First Bank (Traded shares: 4.89 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of BSE, Aster DM Healthcare, Atul, Sumitomo Chemical India, Carborundum Universal, JSW Holdings and Authum Investment & Infrastructure were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52 week high
Over 62 stocks hit their 56 week highs today while 428 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Aegis Logistics, Indian Overseas Bank, Brainbees Solutions, Intellect Design Arena, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Firstsource Solutions and UNO Minda.
Sentiment meter bearish
The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,120 stocks that traded on the BSE on Friday, 2,564 stocks witnessed declines, 1,447 saw advances, while 109 stocks remained unchanged.
Also read | At $165 billion, BYD is now bigger than India’s top 5 automakers combined(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
