Market Wrap Oct 17: Indices end below 52-week high; SENSEX up 484 pts, NIFTY50 above 25,700; VIX up 7%

Indian equity benchmark indices soared to one-year highs during the session but ended slightly below those levels on Friday, October 17, buoyed largely by a strong rally in banking stocks.

The Nifty Bank touched an all-time high of 57,830.20 during the day before closing at 57,713.35, led by gains in IndusInd Bank (1.8%), ICICI Bank (1.36%), and HDFC Bank (0.63%).

With Friday’s close, the benchmark indices marked their third consecutive week of gains, with the SENSEX and NIFTY50 rising 2% each. The Nifty Bank mirrored this trend, climbing 2% over the week. However, broader markets lagged, with the Nifty Midcap 100 advancing just 0.3%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.1%.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹997.29 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,076.20 crore on a net basis.

Globally, Asian indices traded lower on Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, as bond yields eased and gold surged to a new record high.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.52%, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.63%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng also fell 2.60%, while South Korea's KOSPI closed flat, up by 0.01%. The Shanghai Composite also declined 1.99%.

On Wall Street, major indices ended lower on Thursday as renewed concerns over regional banks unsettled investors already wary of escalating US-China trade tensions.

The S&P 500 fell 0.63%, the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.47%, and the Dow Jones slipped 0.65%.

As many as 3,161 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 1,201 advanced and 1,873 stocks declined, while 87 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of declines.

A total of 81 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 86 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 82 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 51 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹464.41 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.63 levels, rising 6.99%.

The broader market underperformed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 0.57% to close at 58,902.25, weighed down by losses in Swiggy (-3.38%), YES Bank (-3.37%), and Mphasis (-3.18%).

Meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index slipped 0.05% to close at 18,122.40, dragged by declines in CreditAccess Grameen (-7.79%), Jindal Saw (-5.63%), and PCBL Chemical (-4.05%).

Among sectoral indices, Nifty FMCG (1.37%), Nifty Consumer Durables (0.69%), Nifty Pharma (0.68%), Nifty Auto (0.66%), and Nifty Private Bank (0.37%) were the top gainers.

In contrast, Nifty IT (-1.63%), Nifty Media (-1.56%), Nifty Metal (-0.85%), and Nifty PSU Bank (-0.65%) lagged behind.

On the NIFTY50 index, 27 stocks advanced while 23 declined on Friday. Asian Paints led the gainers, surging 4.07%, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra (2.67%), Bharti Airtel (2.31%), Max Healthcare (2.19%), and Hindustan Unilever (1.64%).

On the other hand, Wipro (-5.17%), Infosys (-2.08%), Eternal (-1.47%), Tata Steel (-1.44%), and HCL Technologies (-1.2%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-stock index.