Weekly Wrap: NIFTY50 cracks 1.9%, SENSEX loses 1,829 pts this week; Infosys, HCL Tech among top laggards

This week, traders were focused on the major corporate earnings of IT sector companies and on their forward guidance amid the turbulent times in the domestic equities. The overall sentiment of the market was also weighed down by the higher crude oil prices, significant foreign investor outflow, and a weaker Indian rupee rate.

Both benchmark indices closed with major weekly losses, ending in the red zone after Friday’s trading session. The NIFTY50 index lost 1.9% or 455 points this week, closing at 23,897.95 points on Friday, while the BSE SENSEX lost 2.3% or 1,829 points this week to end at 76,664.21 points.

Friday’s market recap

The benchmark NIFTY50 index closed 1.14% lower at 23,897.95 points after Friday’s stock market session, compared to 24,173.05 points at the previous market close, according to NSE data.

Heavyweight stocks like Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, were among other constituents that dragged down the index on April 24, amid a weaker Indian rupee rate, as focus remained on the selloff sentiment in major IT stocks, fuelling foreign investor outflows.

Data collected from the BSE website showed that the SENSEX closed 1.29% lower at 76,664.21 points after Friday’s trading session, compared to 77,664 points at the previous stock market close.

The market sentiment remained subdued throughout the trading session as US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a three-week ceasefire extension between Israel and Lebanon failed to steer clear of the uncertainties in West Asia amid hazy hopes of a peace deal in the near term.

What factors were driving markets this week?

This week, stock market investors remained cautious as the focus was largely on the major corporate earnings of IT and other key stocks, as hopes of a second round of potential peace deal talks between Iran and the United States eroded in the market.

The bearish mood in the market post-quarterly results triggered broad-based selling in IT stocks like Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, among others, dragging down the benchmark indices.

NSE data also showed that foreign investors sold a total of ₹8,827.87 crore worth of assets from the capital markets segment in a single day on Friday, indicating the significant selloff pressure in the Indian stock market.

Foreign investors tend to pull money out of emerging markets like India in cases when they look to park funds into safer bets like US government treasuries, the US dollar, or precious metals amid the pressure from higher oil prices in the market and increased greenback demand over West Asia cues.

With crude oil climbing back past $106 per barrel on Friday, the elevated oil prices also contributed to increasing the pressure on domestic equities, as India is a major importer of crude oil from foreign nations.

All eyes now remain on a potential second round of peace deal talks between the United States and Iran, as investors hope for some relief in the equity markets post any positive moves over the weekend.

Latest media reports suggest that a special envoy from the United States has departed to hold further talks with the present Iranian government, as Trump aims to put an end to the conflict, which has concluded its eight week since the beginning of March 2026.

Top 5 gainers & losers this week

HCL Technologies (HCL Tech), Infosys, SBI Life Insurance Co., Tech Mahindra, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were among the top losers this week on the benchmark NIFTY50 index.

HCL Tech lost 16.6%, Infosys lost 12.4%, SBI Life Insurance dropped 10.2%, Tech Mahindra lost 10.1%, and TCS shares lost 7.2% in a single week ending Friday, April 24, amid the massive selloff.

While other stocks like Coal India, Trent, Nestle India, Hindalco Industries, and State Bank of India (SBI) were among the top five stocks which ended with marginal gains this week on NIFTY50.

Coal India gained 1.2%, Trent was up 1.1%, Nestle India gained 0.8%, Hindalco gained 0.7%, and SBI was up 0.6% over the last five trading days this week, according to the exchange data.

Top performing sectors this week

NSE data highlighted that Nifty Energy and the Nifty FMCG index were the top-gaining sectors this week, with the Nifty Energy ending the week with 2.6% gains, while the Nifty FMCG surged 2.2% this week.

Other sectoral indices like Nifty Media were up 1,6%, Nifty Pharma was up 0.4%, and Nifty India Defence gained 0.3% in the week ended Friday, April 24.

India’s volatility index, Nifty VIX, gained 14.6% on a weekly basis as of the stock market close on Friday, due to the heightened volatility caused by the Q4 earnings season and dynamic cues from the West Asia conflict.

Midcap stocks this week

The benchmark midcap index, Nifty Midcap 100, lost 0.9% this week, ending 1% lower after Friday’s market session at 59,374 points, compared to 59,952.80 points at the previous stock market close, according to NSE data.

Stocks like Persistent Systems lost 12.8%, Coforge lost 12.6%, Mphasis lost 11.6%, Tata Elxsi lost 8.7, and 360 One Wam dropped 6.6% on a weekly basis as of the market close on April 24.

While others like Oracle Financial Services (OFSSL) gained 12%, Hitachi Energy was up 11.3%, GE Vernova was up 11.1%, Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww) was up 9.9%, and AU Small Finance Bank was up 7.6% this week.

Smallcap stocks this week

After a volatile session this week, Nifty Smallcap 100 ended flat with 0.01% gains on a weekly basis as the benchmark smallcap index closed at 17,567 points after Friday’s trading session, compared to 17,720.75 points at the previous market close, as per NSE data.

Stocks like Firstsource Solutions lost 12.5%, Ola Electric Mobility lost 12.3%, IIFL Finance lost 11.4%, Zensar Technologies lost 11.1%, and Anant Raj lost 9.9% on a weekly basis for the week ended April 24.

Other smallcap stocks like Data Patterns shares up 16.7%, Himadri Speciality Chemical shares up 14.7%, Amara Raja Energy shares up 13.1%, Welspun Corp shares up 12.1%, and PNB Housing Finance up around 11.9% were among the top gainers this week.