By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -Indian equity benchmarks ended the week higher on Friday, led by IT and pharmaceutical stocks as the U.S. government’s reopening lifted hopes for economic clarity, while improved domestic earnings and a key state election result boosted sentiment.
The Nifty 50 added 0.12% to 25,910.05 on the day, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.1% to 84,562.78. Both advanced about 1.6% this week.
All 16 major sectors logged weekly gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose about 1% and 1.5%, respectively.
“Market sentiment is clearly constructive, driven by a better-than-expected September-quarter earnings season and optimism over an India–U.S. trade deal after the U.S. President signaled progress earlier this week,” said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder of Fident Asset Management.
The end of the U.S. government shutdown in the week raised hopes for the release of key economic data that could guide corporate tech spending and ease macro uncertainty.
IT companies , which derive a large share of revenue from the U.S., gained 3.4% for the week.
It fell 1% on the day as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve policymakers pared bets of an imminent U.S. rate cut. [MKTS/GLOB]
Pharma companies rose 2.9% this week, helped by a post-results rally in key constituents such as Biocon.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, is set to retain power in the northern state of Bihar, signaling policy continuity and political stability.
“A clear NDA win should lift benchmarks to record highs in the near term,” said Dadheech.
Among stocks, Asian Paints jumped 11.2% this week after a 43% profit surge on strong decorative-paint volumes.
Adani Enterprises gained 6.2% as it set the price for a 249.30-billion-rupee rights issue, its largest fundraising since scrapping a fully-subscribed 200-billion-rupee follow-on public offer in early 2023.
Trent slipped 5.1% this week after posting its slowest revenue growth since 2021.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Subhranshu Sahu and Harikrishnan Nair)
