Market weekly wrap: SENSEX, NIFTY50 decline for third week in a row; Shriram Finance, Bharti Airtel among top losers

The Indian stock market ended lower for the third consecutive week on August 28, with the market investors remaining cautious amid geopolitical concerns, fluctuations in crude oil prices and foreign investor activity.

Market participants remained watchful amid talks between Iran and Qatar, which could potentially lead to the reopening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and ease supply disruptions stemming from the Middle East conflict.

Brent crude prices dropped nearly 5% during the week to settle at $88.28 per barrel amid mixed cues from the West Asia conflict.

During the week, media reports suggested that Iran and Oman have proposed a joint scheme to set up a temporary shipping pathway and launch a demining effort at the Strait of Hormuz. However, the deal is yet to be finalised.

This comes amid America’s sanctions on Iran, as the Western nation has begun its campaign to tighten sanctions on Tehran over aviation, cryptocurrency, gold, shipping, and technology.

Meanwhile, IT stocks remained in focus this week after strong quarterly performances from US technology majors NVIDIA and Salesforce. NVIDIA reported Q2 revenue of $96.2 billion, well ahead of expectations, driven by robust demand for its AI-focused chips, while it guided for revenue of $108 billion for the next quarter, reinforcing optimism around continued AI spending.

Salesforce, meanwhile, reported 11% YoY growth in Q2 revenue to $11.35 billion and raised its FY27 revenue and earnings outlook, helped by growth in its AI offerings.

How the broader market performed this week

During the week, broader markets outperformed the benchmark equity indices, with the NIFTY Midcap 100 and NIFTY Smallcap 100 gaining 0.5%.

Coforge shares jumped after the IT firm said it is expanding its partnership with Pegasystems to accelerate enterprise AI transformation. The partnership allows Coforge to build, package, brand, and commercially deliver Pega-powered offerings, strengthening the ability to deliver AI-led enterprise transformation programs globally.

Two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) maker Ather Energy shares surged this week following a ₹1,758 crore stake transaction during the block deal window on the NSE and Hero MotoCorp’s move to acquire additional shares in the company.

IDBI Bank shares surged amid high trading volumes, with market participants also tracking the potential sale of Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) stake in the bank in the coming period.

Shares of BLS International declined following a Spanish news outlet report that alleged the company has been drawn into the Spanish National Court's investigation into a visa fraud network at Spain’s consulate in Algiers.

State-owned copper mining and production company Hindustan Copper shares slipped as investors focused on the central government’s stake sale move. The government has realised nearly ₹3,000 crore from the share sale of Hindustan Copper with the closure of OFS on Wednesday.

The Hindustan Copper OFS closed successfully with an enthusiastic response from retail investors, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla had said on X.

Sectoral watch this week

Among sectors, the NIFTY Metal and NIFTY IT indices emerged as the top gainers during the week, rising 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. The NIFTY Pharma and NIFTY Private Bank indices also advanced 2.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

On the other hand, the NIFTY FMCG, NIFTY Oil & Gas and NIFTY Auto indices declined 1.5%, 1% and 0.9%, respectively. The NIFTY India Defence and NIFTY Media indices also fell 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, during the week.

However, India VIX slipped 4.6% this week, indicating that the investors believe that the worst of the declines may be over.