Indian equities oscillated within a tight band on Friday, with benchmark indices giving back only a sliver of Thursday’s relief rally. Analysts see this as investors weighing higher oil prices and factoring in renewed stress in global bond markets.
In Friday morning trade, the Sensex has moved between an intraday low of 77,725.67 and a high of 77,445.86, keeping net movement versus Thursday’s close modest despite the sharp 628‑point rebound seen in the previous session.
The Nifty 50 has traded in a similarly narrow window, slipping to 24,206.80 before recovering to 24,284.05, leaving it only fractionally above Thursday’s 153‑point gain.
These small gains and losses revealed the morning’s fragile sentiment. It also meant that Thursday’s recovery after four straight sessions of decline on the Sensex (and seven on the Nifty) did not yet translate into a sustained trend.
Both indices are still down on a year‑on‑year basis, with the Sensex about 6 per cent lower than this time last year.
Major market drivers
Crude oil hovering near the $93‑a‑barrel mark continued to be the primary driver of this cautious tone, as diplomatic deadlock in the Gulf region and US–Iran tensions kept supply risks elevated.
That led to global bond yields moving higher, reviving inflation worries.
Large private banks and state‑owned lenders are among the few bright spots, continuing to benefit from loan‑growth visibility and relatively clean balance sheets.
However, broader market moves were mixed, with small‑caps marginally higher and mid‑caps modestly lower. This hinted that domestic traders were still willing to take selective risk even as foreign institutional investors remained net sellers.
