Indian equity benchmarks witnessed sharp swings in the final stretch of trading on Friday, reversing late intraday strength into a mixed market close. Sustained gains across major blue chips evaporated during the closing auction session (CAS) as sudden profit-taking pushed the BSE Sensex into negative territory. Up until 3:15 PM, the benchmark gauge was cruising with a solid 245-point gain, but the final settled price at 3:30 PM saw it slip by 20 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 74,295. In contrast, the broader NSE Nifty 50 managed to defend its advances, ending 76 points or 0.33 percent higher at 23,346. Reflecting underlying resilience despite the headline divergence, India VIX tumbled 7.57 percent, signaling lower perceived risk among market participants.
Adani Ports Leads Heavyweight Winners Alongside Power Grid and HDFC Bank
Even as late-session selling trimmed gains on the headline index, buying momentum was robust across several prominent constituents. Adani Ports emerged as the top performer on the Nifty, rallying 3.72 percent to settle at ₹1,801.00. Utility major Power Grid advanced 2.47 percent to end at ₹270.00, while heavyweight private lender HDFC Bank climbed 2.26 percent to finish at ₹729.10. Telecom giant Bharti Airtel gained 2.11 percent to settle at ₹1,866.00.
Further support came from financial and consumer counters, with Bajaj Finance advancing 1.08 percent and airline operator IndiGo climbing 0.93 percent. Other gainers included Eternal rising 0.82 percent, L&T adding 0.78 percent, SBI climbing 0.54 percent, and Axis Bank ticking up 0.23 percent. On the losing side, IT heavyweight TCS faced steep selling pressure, tumbling 4.33 percent. Lifestyle retailer Titan declined 2.11 percent, paint maker Asian Paints dropped 2.00 percent, and automaker Maruti shed 1.98 percent.
Broader Markets Surge as Sectoral Breadth Favors Bulls Over Tech
While headline indices showed divergence, broader market spaces registered vigorous buying interest throughout the session. The Smallcap index surged 1.77 percent, while the Midcap index posted a solid advance of 1.23 percent. Overall market breadth clearly favored advancing issues, with 2,531 stocks finishing in the green against 1,452 declining counters.
On the sectoral front, cyclical and high-beta segments registered substantial gains, with indices tracking metals, media, realty, infrastructure, and energy all advancing by more than 1 percent. In contrast, technology counters bore the brunt of market caution, pulling the Nifty IT index down by 1.03 percent by the closing bell.
