The Indian market closed flat with a slight negative bias on Friday, with the Sensex and the Nifty swinging between red and green as investors booked profits near record levels and assessed expectations of potential interest rate cuts in both the U.S. and India, alongside incoming domestic growth signals.
The S&P BSE Sensex inched down 13.7 points, or 0.02 percent, to 85,706.67, while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 26,202.95. Both benchmarks traded in a narrow range through the day after touching fresh record highs in the previous session.
Here is how analysts read the market pulse:
Indian equities stayed resilient, even as selective profit booking emerged in the broader market after the recent upswing, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that sentiment was supported by progress in India U.S. trade discussions, while strong performance in large cap sectors such as Auto, Financials and Pharma helped maintain positive momentum.
"Supportive global cues, including a continued tech driven rally and rising expectations of a Fed rate cut, further strengthened investor confidence. With Q2 GDP and IIP data due shortly, the overall outlook remains constructive, and the prints are expected to affirm an improving macro trend," said Nair.
Also read | 5 Wall Street moguls who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad — Guess what they’re saying now!
US markets
Wall Street ended Friday (28 November) on a positive footing, with major indices extending their rally for a fifth straight session, despite the Nasdaq Composite finishing the month lower. In an abbreviated post-Thanksgiving trade, the Nasdaq gained 0.65 percent to 23,365.69, the S&P 500 ..
Optimism improved as investors grew increasingly confident that the Federal Reserve may move towards interest rate cuts in the near future.
European markets
European shares ended higher on Friday, closing out a strong week and month on optimism over possible U.S. rate cuts. The STOXX 600 posted its longest winning streak since March 2024, with sentiment improving through the month despite early worries about an AI-driven sell-off.
Focus now turns to Russia-Ukraine peace talks, which supported the broader mood but hurt aerospace and defence stocks. Global futures trading resumed after a major CME outage.
Tech view
The Nifty closed the week forming a small candlestick on the weekly chart, indicating hesitation at higher levels, said Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that on the hourly chart, RSI has drifted into a bearish crossover with lower tops, suggesting bulls may take a breather at these levels.
"However, support remains visible at 26100 and 26000, while resistance is placed at 26300. The technical setup suggests the index may trade in a range, with immediate support at 26100 and resistance around 26300 to 26350 levels. Closing above 26300 levels will open the door for 26600 levels," said Bhuva.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
HDFC Bank (Rs 1,613 crore), RIL (Rs 1,408 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,319 crore), Welspun India (Rs 1,202 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 1,104 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,068 crore) and GAIL (Rs 1,049 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers during the day.
Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of Welspun India, Neuland Labs, Ipca Labs, Advent Hotels International, Reliance Infrastructure, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and KSB were among the stocks that saw strong buying interest from market participants.
52 Week high
Over 117 stocks hit their 52 week highs today, while 161 stocks slipped to their 52 week lows. Among the ones that hit their 52 week highs were Adani Ports SEZ, Tata Motors CV and RIL.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Stocks that witnessed significant selling pressure were Power Grid, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India and Infosys.
Sentiment meter neutral
Market sentiment was neutral. Out of the 4,312 stocks that traded on the BSE on Friday, 2,128 stocks witnessed declines, 2,019 saw advances, while 165 stocks remained unchanged.
Source Name : Economic Times