The Indian stock market spent another week in consolidation, meaning prices moved within a narrow range without making any significant upward or downward move. After several weeks of volatility, investors remained cautious due to global uncertainties, higher crude oil prices, and a wait-and-watch approach from institutional investors.
Although the benchmark indices closed slightly lower, there were still opportunities across specific sectors. Defensive sectors such as FMCG, Healthcare, Pharma, and Tourism attracted buying interest, while sectors like Defence and Consumer Durables witnessed profit booking.
During the week, the NIFTY50 slipped 51.70 points, or 0.2%, 23,346.40, while the BSE SENSEX declined 486.80 points, or 0.7% , 74,294.96.
Smallcap & Midcap
Nifty Midcap 100 decline 254.70 point to 0.41 at 62,191.25 while NIFTY SMALLCAP 100 also decline 115.60 point or 0.58% at 19,875.70.
Sectoral watch this week
Among sectors, the NIFTY India Defence and NIFTY Consumer Durables indices emerged as the top laggards during the week, declining 3.8% and 2.7%, respectively. The NIFTY Auto (-0.6%), NIFTY Private Bank (-0.5%) and NIFTY Realty (-0.5%) were the other top losing sectors of the week.
On the other hand, NIFTY Media (1.1%), NIFTY FMCG (0.9%), NIFTY Pharma (0.7%), NIFTY Metal (0.4%) and NIFTY Oil & Gas (0.01%) were among the gainers.
Investor Activity
During the week, FIIs remained net sellers in the cash market, offloading ₹7,619.69 crore, while DIIs provided strong support by investing ₹11,231.72 crore, helping cushion market declines. In the derivatives segment, FIIs showed mixed positioning, with strong buying in Index Options (+₹21,399.65 crore) but net selling in Stock Futures (-₹1,453.17 crore) and Stock Options (-₹1,564.48 crore). Despite persistent foreign selling, robust domestic buying helped the Nifty 50 close at 23,346.40 and the Sensex at 74,294.96, indicating resilience amid cautious market sentiment.
Global Markets: What Happened Around the World?
United States
US markets recovered modestly during the week after recent weakness.
Investors found some relief as inflation-related economic data came in slightly better than expected, reducing immediate concerns. However, markets continued to remain cautious ahead of important policy announcements.
Technology and other large-cap growth stocks saw selective buying.
Asian Markets
Asian markets delivered mixed performance.
Although concerns around technology stocks eased compared to the previous week, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to keep investors cautious.
Rather than buying aggressively, investors preferred defensive sectors across Asian markets.