Sensex, Nifty post sixth weekly loss; TCS, Titan among top laggards, slip up to 4%

Indian equity benchmarks ended mixed on Friday after a volatile trading session, with the BSE Sensex pack closing marginally lower while the NSE Nifty50 index settled in the green. Despite Friday's gains in the broader market, both indices extended their losing streak to a sixth consecutive week.

The market remained under pressure amid elevated crude oil prices and concerns surrounding geopolitical developments in West Asia. Brent crude continued to trade above the $100-a-barrel mark, keeping global macroeconomic risks in focus.

The 30-share Sensex declined 19.63 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 74,294.96. Nifty50 rose 75.80 points or 0.33 per cent to close at 23,346.40.

For the week (between September 11 and September 18), Sensex declined 0.65 per cent, while Nifty slipped 0.22 per cent.

TCS, Titan among weekly laggards

Among Nifty50 constituents, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Titan Company Ltd, Coal India Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, NTPC Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Bajaj Auto were among the major laggards for the week. These stocks declined as much as 4.35 per cent during the period.

On the other hand, HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Infosys Ltd were among the notable gainers, rising as much as 3.95 per cent.

Friday's session saw buying interest across several key sectors, supporting gains in large-cap and broader-market stocks. The IT index, however, remained a laggard and fell more than 1 per cent, limiting the overall gains in the benchmark indices.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Ltd, said the market recovery would depend on easing global macroeconomic risks and a meaningful revival in foreign investor inflows.

Nifty outlook

Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, said, "Going forward, the 23180–23150 zone is expected to act as a crucial support area. A sustained breach below 23150 could intensify selling pressure towards 23000 levels. On the upside, 23500–23520 is likely to act as an immediate hurdle. A sustained move above 23520 could trigger short covering and extend the pullback towards 23650 levels."