Sensex, Nifty fall 1% as border tensions escalate

The Indian indices declined for the second day in a row on Friday, dragged down by renewed geopolitical tensions with Pakistan, despite a supportive global market backdrop. At close, the Sensex was down 880.34 points or 1.1 percent at 79,454.47, and the Nifty was down 265.80 points or 1.1 percent at 24,008.
Titan Company, Tata Motors, L&T, Bharat Electronics, Hero MotoCorp were top gainers on the Nifty while losers included ICICI Bank, Power Grid Corp, UltraTech Cement, Shriram Finance, Grasim Industries. On the sectoral front, realty index shed 2.3 percent, private bank index was down 1.3 percent, while media, consumer durables, capital goods, PSU Bank indices rose between 0.9-1.6 percent. BSE Midcap index ended flat, while smallcap index was down 0.3 percent. For the week, BSE Sensex and Nifty fell more than 1 percent each.
Market This Week
●Market snaps 3-week gaining streak amid India-Pak tensions,
●Sensex, Nifty & Midcap index fall 1% each, Nifty Bank slips 3%,
●Nearly 40 Nifty stocks give negative returns this week
Rupee Close:
On 9 May'25,the Indian rupee pared its initial losses and settled for the day higher by 17 paise at 85.41 against the US dollar on Friday, as likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India helped contain excess depreciation of the rupee. Forex traders reportedly stated the rupee opened on a weak note on the escalation of hostility between India and Pakistan, however, RBI intervened to prevent major weakness.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments reportedly quoted ad saying,a conflict was anticipated but the market was not expecting the situation to intensify, raising concerns about its duration. However, it is still projected to be a short-lived confrontation, given the strategic advantage and the opponent’s weak economic standing.
Interestingly, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to invest in the Indian market until Thursday, while retail investors remain slightly cautious at the moment.
Market experts have recommended five shares to buy -Kirloskar Brothers, Bharti Hexacom, Dharmaj Crop Guard, Orient Bell, and Intellect Design Arena.

(Business Correspondent)