Weekly Wrap: NIFTY50 up 1.3%, SENSEX gains 943 points this week; Adani Ports, Eternal among other top gainers

This week the domestic equity market was fuelled by the positive global cues over renewed hopes of a potential peace deal in the upcoming weekend. Investors were trading stocks on the backdrop of lower crude oil prices, a strengthening Indian rupee, and rebounding foreign investor interest in emerging markets like India.

The benchmark NIFTY50 index gained 1.3% or around 302 points this week, closing higher at 24,353.55 points on Friday, while the BSE SENSEX index rose 1.2% on a weekly basis to close at 78,493.54 points on April 17.

Stock market recap

The NIFTY50 index closed 0.65% or 156.80 points higher at 24,353.55 points after Friday’s trading session, compared to 24,196.75 points at the previous market close, according to NSE data.

The index witnessed significant support from the index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, and HDFC Bank among others along with major positive price action in the FMCG stocks.

BSE data showed that the SENSEX closed 0.65% or 504.86 points higher at 78,493.54 points as of Friday, April 17, compared to 77,988.68 points at the previous market close.

Although the stock indices were trading under pressure in the early market hours on the final trading session of the week, both NIFTY50 and SENSEX surged through in the afternoon market hours.

Factors fuelling markets this week

As investors awaited the potential second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran, the falling price of crude oil in the global market kept the sentiment positive this week, despite subdued Asian markets on account of profit booking before the weekend.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading 2.5% lower near $95.91 per barrel (bbl) as of 5:20 pm (IST), on April 17, compared to $99.39 per bbl at the previous market close, according to Investing.com data.

Despite the volatility in the market due to the changing geopolitical developments along with the temporary easing, investors were cautiously optimistic, allocating their funds to riskier bets like emerging markets amid lower US dollar rate.

Data collected from Bloomberg’s US dollar spot (DYX) index showed that the greenback was trading 0.11% lower at 98.108 as of 7:43 am (EDT), compared to the previous currency market close levels.

Hence a lower dollar rate and easing West Asia tensions prompt investors to branch out to other emerging markets. NSE data showed that foreign investors purchased ₹683.20 crore worth of capital market assets in total in a single day on Friday.

Latest media reports suggest that Lebanon and Israel have announced a ten day ceasefire on the attacks on Iran while US President Donald Trump expects that the conflict is likely to end “pretty soon.” All eyes are now on the potential second round of peace deal talks.

Top 5 gainers & losers this week

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Adani Enterprises, Max Healthcare, Eternal, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles were among the top gainers this week on the NIFTY50 index.

Adani Ports & SEZ gained 6.6%, Adani Enterprises surged 6.3%, Max Healthcare gained 5.7%, Eternal gained 5.2%, and Tata Motors PV surged 5.1%, as of the week ended Friday, April 17.

While others like Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank were among the top losers this week on the benchmark index.

Eicher Motors lost 3.2%, Maruti Suzuki lost 1.9%, Mahindra & Mahindra lost 1.8%, Bajaj Finance lost 1.8%, and HDFC Bank dropped 1.3% on a weekly basis as of Friday’s market close.

Top performing sectors this week

NSE data showed that Nifty India Defence gained 6.2% this week emerging as the biggest gainer for the week ended Friday, April 17, followed by Nifty Energy with 4.6% gains in the same period amid the rising demand in the domestic market.

Nifty VIX, India’s volatility index, dropped 8.7% on a weekly basis as of the market close on Friday due to the positive sentiment, dynamic trends and rising flows into the Indian stock market.

Other major indices like Nifty Metal gained 4.2%, Nifty Media was up 3.8%, Nifty Realty surged 3.6%, and Nifty IT surging 2.5% were among the top gaining sectors for the week ended Friday, April 17, according to NSE data.

Midcap & smallcap stocks this week

On the midcap stocks front, the Nifty Midcap 100 index gained 3.6% this week closing at 59,898.20 points as of Friday’s market session with stocks like Suzlon Energy up 17%, Radico Khaitan up 14%, BHEL up 11%, Blue Star up 10%, and RVNl up 10% on a weekly basis among others.

Others like Indus Towers down 5.8%, Kalyan Jewellers down 5%, Coromandel International down 4.9%, Hero MotoCorp down 4.3%, and Indian Bank down 2.9% were among the top laggards this week.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index delivered 4.3% returns this week amid the overall rally in the market closing higher at 17,565.70 points as of the end of Friday’s trading session, according to NSE data.

Stocks like Gujarat Mineral Development Corp. up 22%, PG Electroplast up 15%, Angel One up 15%, Netweb Technologies India up 14%, and Reliance Power up 14% were among the top gainers this week.

While other stocks like Jyoti CNC Automation down 14%, Piramal Finance down 4%, Sai Life Sciences down 2.8%, Inventurus Knowledge Solutions down 2.6%, and Signature Global India down 2.5% were among the top laggards on the smallcap index.