Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower on Thursday amid soaring crude oil price (above $120 per barrel) and rising geopolitical tensions between U.S.-Iran. The U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship trying to overtake its blockade in Strait of Hormuz. Index began the session with cut of around a percent on account of weak cues from the global markets. Soon, indices extended its losses as traders avoided risky bids ahead of long weekend holiday as markets to remain close on Friday on account of Maharashtra Day. Besides, sentiments were downbeat with persistent foreign fund outflow. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,468.42 crore on April 29. Further, cautiousness also prevailed in the market as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) downgraded its 2026 economic growth outlook to 4.7 per cent from 5.1 per cent earlier for Asia and the Pacific, as prolonged West Asia disruptions are fuelling energy prices and tightening financial conditions across the region. Meanwhile, rupee depreciation to all-time-low of 95.34 against U.S. Dollar, also impacted trading sentiments. However, in second of the session, index witnessed some recovery in but eventually ended in red terrain.
Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except Pharma and IT. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Bajaj Auto, Sammaan Capital and R KPIT Technologies. On the other hand, the top losers were Waaree Energies, National Aluminium Company and Kfin Technologies. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
