The NSE Nifty ended at 24,450.45, down 315.45 points or 1.3%, while the BSE Sensex closed at 78,918.90, down 1,097 points or 1.4%. Both indexes fell 2.9% for the week, their biggest weekly loss since February 2025.
The rupee closed at 91.74 per dollar on Friday, down 14 paise from the previous close of 91.60. The currency hit a record low of 92.30 on Wednesday. During the week, the rupee recorded its worst decline in a month due to rising oil prices amid the Gulf dispute.
The Volatility Index (VIX) rose 11.3% to 19.9, indicating traders anticipate higher risks in the near term. “Investors are worried about the flow of misinformation from West Asia and if the war drags on, some more pain is expected,” said UR Butt, co-founder and chairman of Alfaniti. “Until there is a ceasefire and the warring parties come to the negotiating table, the weakness may continue.”
InstitutionsThere is no sign of the trend changing
Butt said foreign investors have continued to pull funds out of India and are not expected to deploy serious money soon.
At home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 6,030.4 crore on Friday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth Rs 6,971.5 crore. So far in March, global investors have sold stocks worth Rs 21,830 crore.
According to Reuters, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold up to $12 billion this week to defend the rupee. The dollar index rose to 99 on Friday.
“National banks were still in the market today, but the selling of the dollar was not as fast as Thursday. They were just trying to moderate the pace of devaluation.” Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors, said.
The rupee moved within a narrow range during the intervention, and any strength in the currency was met by demand for the dollar from imports to maintain its position, a trader with the state-run bank said. The currency traded between 91.75 and 91.58 during the day.
In equities, technical analysts said the Nifty’s brief pullback on Thursday came as the index neared key support levels and markets appeared oversold.
However, there are no signs of a change in the trend and the bias remains, said Rochit Jain, head of technical research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“Foreign investors added short positions in index futures and remained short sellers in cash,” Jain said. “This combination indicates that a price-wise correction is expected to follow.”
Among sectors, the Bank Nifty fell 2.2% on Friday while the Nifty Private Bank and PSU Bank indices fell 2.3% and 2% respectively. Nifty Realty fell 2.1% and Nifty Auto fell 1%.
Broader markets were relatively resilient. The Nifty Mid-Cap 150 Index was down 0.7% and the Small-Cap 250 Index was down 0.3%. Over the past week, the mid-cap and small-cap indices have fallen around 3% each.
Bhatt said news of a narrow negotiating window on Thursday had comforted investors and led to a rebound but further losses would trigger further declines.
“In the near term, 24,300 is immediate support followed by 24,100-24,000,” Jain said. “On the upside, 24,900 is a barrier and the benchmark needs to break above that level for a clear trend reversal.”
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong grew by 1.7% while Japan and China grew by 0.6% and 0.4% respectively. South Korea finished slightly higher. However, Taiwan decreased by 0.2%.
In the bond market, the 10-year government security yield closed at 6.69%, five basis points from its previous close, reflecting risk sentiment due to the West Asian conflict. Traders said the central bank’s intervention in the government bond market was also less aggressive than on Thursday.
The ‘other’ category, which includes central bank-linked pension funds, insurers, bought Rs 10,770 crore on Friday, compared with Rs 17,254 crore on Thursday and Rs 20,285 crore on Wednesday. The ‘Other’ category bought Rs 8,602 crore and Rs 7,484 crore in the previous week.
