Paring early losses, Indian stocks close week on a high

Making a strong comeback from the early losses, Indian stock indices closed the day and the week's trading on a high.

Making a strong comeback from the early losses, Indian stock indices closed the day and the week's trading on a high. During the morning trade, the Indian stock market nosedived into negative territory with continued selling for the fifth session, succumbing to the escalating geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel.

Sensex closed at 73,088.33 points, up 599.34 or 0.83 per cent, and Nifty closed at 22,147.00 points, up 151.15 points or 0.69 per cent. Among the widely-tracked Nifty 50 stocks, 30 advanced, 19 declined, and one remained unchanged. "Despite global weakness, Indian markets staged a strong recovery driven by large-cap stocks, buoyed by the expectation of limited prospects of escalation following Israel's actions against Iran. However, fragility persists with elevated oil prices, posing inflation risks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"FIIs continued to remain risk-averse, a trend seen since last week. Global sentiment remains subdued due to a robust US economy and persistent inflation, dampening hopes of a near-term Fed rate cut. Mid and small caps saw weakness as Q4 earnings expectations remained muted." Indian shares rose today as the country started voting for a new government, and it is widely expected that Narendra Modi will come back as the prime minister for the third term. The elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats is being held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4.

Key global equity indices were under pressure this week due to escalation in geopolitical events. In India, the Sensex 30 and the Nifty 50 indices posted negative returns in this week amidst the geopolitical developments, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

"The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices also ended in the negative this week but outperformed their large-cap peers. Most of the sectoral indices also ended the week in the red, with the BSE Oil and Gas index being an exception. The IT index saw meaningful correction during the week," Chouhan said. In the near term, Chouhan added market participants will keep a tab of the geopolitical developments and the impact of that on equity markets and commodities including oil and gold. (ANI)

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