Sensex up 260 pts from day’s low; Nifty at 24,530; Pvt banks, FMCG rally

Indian stocks were nervous on Friday as investor caution prevailed on Dalal Street amid US tarifff concerns.

At 10:30 AM on Friday, the BSE Sensex was quoted trading at 80,137.74, higher by merely 57.17 points or 0.07 per cent, while the Nifty50 index was at 24,512.20, up 13 points or 0.05 per cent.

Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market capitalisation, is all set to hold its 48th annual general meeting (AGM) later today. Investors and traders will watch out for the company’s roadmap for doubling of Jio and retail business verticals in three–four years and a game plan for the New Energy (NE) business vertical replicating earnings from the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) segment going ahead, analysts said. Notably, RIL AGM comes at a time when the company’s biggest revenue segment — O2C — is in the line of fire for purchasing Russian oil despite sanctions.

That apart, investors will also eye India’s Q1FY26 GDP data and the fiscal deficit for April-July.

HUL, Asian Paints, Neslte India, ITC, Kotak Bank, Trent, Tata Consumer Products, Shriram Finance, Ultratech Cement, BEL, Wipro, Jio Financial Services, and Sun Pharma were the top Nifty gainers today, rising up to 2 per cent.

On the downside, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, NTPC, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, and Apollo Hospitals were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap and the Nifty SmallCap index declined 0.60 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty FMCG was the top gainer, rising 1 per cent, and the Nifty Auto was the top loser, falling 0.28 per cent.
Nifty levels to watch

For day traders, 24,600 is a key level on Nifty, according to Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities. Staying below this could drag the index to 24,350–24,300, while a move above 24,600 may extend the pullback towards the 20-day SMA at 24,725 and possibly 24,800, he said.