Indian benchmark indices ended Friday’s trading session with strong gains, extending their winning streak to seven consecutive sessions despite a sharp sell-off in global technology stocks.
The Sensex surged 1,717 points, while the Nifty 50 crossed the 25,000 mark to close at its highest level in more than eight months.
The BSE Sensex climbed 2.17% to settle at 81,028.02, while the NSE Nifty 50 advanced 2.01% to close at 25,030.35.
The rally capped an exceptionally strong week for domestic equities. The Sensex gained 8.8% during the week, while the Nifty advanced 8.6%, marking their biggest weekly gains since February 2021.
The gains came even as major Asian markets witnessed heavy selling following a sharp overnight decline on Wall Street. Concerns over the profitability of massive artificial intelligence investments and a possible slowdown in data centre spending triggered a sell-off in global technology stocks.
Indian equities, however, remained relatively resilient, supported by strong foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows, declining crude oil prices and optimism surrounding the US midterm election results.
Foreign investors purchased approximately Rs 15,000 crore worth of Indian equities on Thursday, marking their biggest single-day buying in nearly six years. The renewed inflows provided significant support to banking and financial stocks.
Financial stocks emerged among the major contributors to the week’s rally, with the financial services sector gaining 10.4%. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also recorded their strongest weekly performances in around six years.
Reliance Industries was another major contributor, advancing 13.3% during the week following encouraging quarterly results.
Market sentiment also received support from easing crude oil prices, with expectations of reduced geopolitical tensions following the US election outcome improving the outlook for India’s oil-import-dependent economy.
Indian stock markets are scheduled to hold a special trading session on Sunday on the occasion of Diwali.
