Stock markets to end week in red? Sensex sheds 500 points in Friday morning slump

The BSE Sensex touched a morning low of 78,451.99, down around 502.77 points from Thursday's close of 78,954.76, while the NSE Nifty slid to a morning low of 24,529.20, shedding roughly 106.80 points from its previous close of 24,636.

The declines came after Wall Street retreated overnight from recent record highs, as global investors trimmed exposure to riskier assets amid renewed concerns over energy prices and geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia.

Brent crude extended its climb for a third straight session, rising above $84 a barrel on fears that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could face fresh restrictions, after Iran, working with Oman, proposed curbs on vessels it deems hostile. Higher oil prices are a negative for India, which imports the bulk of its crude needs, and this pressure was compounded by a sell-off in financial heavyweights.

Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv led the losses after a draft Reserve Bank of India proposal raised concerns over restrictions on revolving-credit products offered by non-bank lenders, a move analysts said could affect flexi and overdraft loans extended by NBFCs to corporate, MSME and unsecured personal loan borrowers.

ICICI Bank, Trent, Bharti Airtel and Eternal also featured among the session's laggards, while IT majors Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Infosys bucked the trend to post gains.

Markets have shown some divergence this week following the introduction of the Closing Auction Session, a new mechanism for determining closing prices of futures-and-options-eligible stocks, which became operational on Monday. Despite Friday's weakness, the Nifty and Sensex have still climbed around 1 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively so far this week, keeping benchmarks on track for a second consecutive weekly gain.

Hero gets redemption

Hero MotoCorp shares rose about 3 per cent, emerging as one of the top gainers on the Nifty Auto index, after the two-wheeler major reported a 29 per cent jump in June-quarter core earnings, even though consolidated profit after tax fell 16.86 per cent year-on-year to ₹1,417.93 crore due to a high base effect from a one-time gain recorded last year.

Revenue rose sharply to ₹13,126.35 crore, supported by 23 per cent growth in vehicle sales to 16.77 lakh units, while core margins contracted around 300 basis points as commodity costs rose.

Analysts said the results suggested Hero is better placed than feared to absorb raw-material inflation, citing cost-control measures, a richer product mix and continued momentum in its premium, electric mobility and export segments as key positives going into the festive season.