SENSEX, NIFTY50 trade on a flat note; Wipro, HDFC Life shares decline after Q4 earnings

The Indian equity benchmarks were trading on a flat note on Friday, April 17, mirroring subdued trend in other Asian markets. The SENSEX was trading in a range of 250 points while the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,225 and a low of 24,096 as gains in index heavyweights like ITC, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC were offset with losses in Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, HDFC Life, Wipro and ICICI Bank.

As of 9:23 am, the SENSEX was up 0.2% or 168 points at 78,165 and NIFTY50 index advanced 32 points or 0.13% to 24,228.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower on Friday on account of profit booking ahead of the weekend even as United States President Donald Trump expressed optimism over a deal to secure a permanent ceasefire in Iran.

Japan's Nikkei declined 0.92%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.91% and South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.3%.

Overnight, US stocks extended their record-breaking run for a second straight session on Thursday even as market participants waited for more cues on what will happen next in the Iran war, analysts said.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24%, S&P 500 index advanced 0.26% and tech heavy Nasdaq gained 0.36%.

Back home, 11 of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY Media index's 1.24% gain. NIFTY Bank, PSU Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank, Realty, Auto and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 0.1% and 0.5%.

On the flip side, select financial services, healthcare, IT and metal stocks were witnessing a mild selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares were outperforming their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.4% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.6%.

HDFC Life and Wipro were top losers in the NIFTY50 index after they failed to enthuse investors with their March quarter numbers.

HDFC Life dropped as much as 4% to hit an intraday low of ₹606 after it posted a 4% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its standalone profit after tax (PAT) at ₹495.65 crore. In the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, it had logged a profit of ₹476.54 crore, according to a regulatory filing.

The life insurance arm of HDFC Bank recorded an 8.68% YoY surge in its net premium income to ₹25,829.43 crore during the quarter under review, compared to ₹23,765.56 crore in the fourth quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year (Q4 FY25).

Wipro shares declined as much as 3.57% to hit a low of ₹202.50 after it reported net profit of ₹3,502 crore in quarter ended March 2026, marking an annual decline of 2% from ₹3,570 crore in the same period last year. However, on a sequential basis, Wipro's net profit rose 12% from ₹3,119 crore in the previous quarter.

Wipro's board approved a share buyback proposal worth ₹15,000 crore and the company will purchase shares at ₹250 per share.

Hindalco, Asian Paints, JSW Steel, SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv, Grasim and Tata Steel were also among the top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

On the other hand, ITC, NTPC, Trent, Adani Ports, ONGC, Tata Motors PV, Power Grid and Reliance Industries were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,907 shares were advancing while 856 were declining on the NSE.