MUMBAI – The Nifty and Sensex ended lower on Friday after a sharp morning fall, with rising crude prices adding to pressure on Indian stocks.
The Nifty 50 fell 79.70 points, or 0.34%, to 23,398.10, while the Sensex declined 120.83 points, or 0.16%, to 74,781.76.
The indices had fallen much more sharply earlier. The Sensex touched 74,160.16, down 742 points, while the Nifty hit 23,231.40, a fall of more than 1%, before late buying reduced the losses.
Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel during the week as fighting around the Middle East raised concerns over oil supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea. The Indian rupee also recorded its sharpest weekly fall since May, losing about 1%.
Tata Steel fell 1.67% and Reliance Industries dropped 1.33%, while HDFC Bank gained 2.02%. IT stocks also recovered some ground after taking heavy losses earlier in the week.
Foreign investors sold ₹438.24 crore of Indian equities on Thursday, while domestic institutions bought ₹1,025.85 crore.
Asian markets also came under pressure, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi falling more than 2.6%. US stocks had also closed lower in the previous session.
The Nifty fell about 2.7% and the Sensex 2.9% this week, marking their fifth consecutive weekly decline. Over five weeks, both benchmarks have lost nearly 4.8%. Midcaps fell 1.4% and smallcaps 0.9% this week.
