Key gauges end marginally lower on Friday

Indian equity benchmarks pared most of their initial losses but ended marginally lower on Friday, as investors remained cautious amid developments in the Middle East and their potential implications for global energy markets. However, better-than-expected corporate earnings and supportive global cues helped limit the downside. 

Both the Sensex and Nifty closed with modest losses, reflecting broad-based weakness across sectors. PSU stocks were the biggest laggards on the Sensex, followed by Oil & Gas, Energy and Metal counters, while buying interest in telecom and select TECK stocks offered some support to the broader market. On the Nifty, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles was the top laggard, falling over 4% after reporting an 80% year-on-year decline in first-quarter profit. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

India’s wholesale inflation shows mild cooling at 9.78% in July: India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation showed a mild cooling in July 2026, with inflation easing to 9.78 per cent from 9.87 per cent in June 2026. The index for All Commodities also declined slightly to 110.0 in July 2026 from 110.2 in June 2026.

India's merchandise exports jump 19.6% in July driven by petroleum products: The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose by 19.63 per cent to $44.24 billion in July 2026 as compared to $36.98 billion in July 2025, driven by a jump in shipments of petroleum products. 

India in regular contact with US on proposed bilateral trade agreement: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal has said that India is in ‘regular contact’ with the United States (US) regarding negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA). According to him, both countries are committed to the framework deal that was agreed upon in February, 2026.

India needs focused strategy to become global manufacturing hub by 2047: NITI Aayog, in its report titled ‘Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub’, has said that India's aspiration to become a global manufacturing hub by 2047 will require a focused strategy that combines scale, competitiveness, innovation and integration into global value chains. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as data from Eurostat showed the euro area trade balance posted surplus for the first time in three months in June. The trade surplus came in at EUR 8.6 billion in June compared to a shortfall of EUR 9.0 billion in May. Asian markets ended mixed as tariff worries and uncertainty over efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz overshadowed easing Fed rate-hike bets. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 70.71 points or 0.09% to 78,009.25 and the CNX Nifty was down by 29.85 points or 0.12% to 24,366.00.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 78,048.91 and 77,684.37, respectively. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.86%, TECK up by 0.65%, Consumer Durables up by 0.17% and Capital Goods up by 0.11%, while PSU down by 0.69%, Oil & Gas down by 0.45%, Energy down by 0.44%, Metal down by 0.38% and Basic Materials down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.42%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.06%, Eternal up by 0.53%, Titan Company up by 0.48% and ICICI Bank up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.88%, NTPC down by 1.48%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.39%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.30% and State Bank of India down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation showed a mild cooling in July 2026, with inflation easing to 9.78 per cent from 9.87 per cent in June 2026. The index for All Commodities also declined slightly to 110.0 in July 2026 from 110.2 in June 2026. The July WPI data showed divergent trends across major groups. Primary Articles inflation accelerated to 8.52 per cent in July 2026 from 7.0 per cent in June 2026, while Manufactured Products inflation rose to 8.29 per cent in July 2026 from 7.48 per cent in June 2026. 

Fuel and Power provided some relief, with inflation declining substantially to 20.05 per cent in July from 27.41 per cent in June. Correspondingly, the Primary Articles and Manufactured Products indices increased to 117.2 and 108.4, respectively in July, while the Fuel and Power index fell to 105.4 in July from 111.1 June. The WPI Food Index, consists of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles major group, and ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ from Manufactured Products major group, recorded inflation of 6.65 per cent in July 2026 as compared to 6.14 per cent in June 2026.

All India Output Producer Price Index (PPI) for All Commodities for July 2026 stands at 109.9, same as it was in June 2026. Further, output PPIs for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying; Manufactured Products; and Electricity are 115.6, 119.4, 108.8, and 92.4, respectively, in July 2026, whereas those were 114.1, 121.5, 109.2, and 92.0, respectively, in June 2026.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 24,405.20 and 24,296.80, respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 3.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.73%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.37% and ICICI Bank up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Tata Motors Passenger down by 4.32%, JIO Financial Services down by 2.56%, Asian Paints down by 2.15%, Hindalco Industries down by 1.60% and ONGC down by 1.46% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 2.44 points or 0.03% to 8,653.00 and Germany’s DAX gained 196.66 points or 0.75% to 26,496.40, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 6.86 points or 0.06% to 10,765.81.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as caution grew over rising US Treasury yields following statements that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports could continue indefinitely, and as investors awaited US retail sales and consumer sentiment readings due later in the day. Meanwhile, mild US inflation figures raised optimism that the US Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady next month. Japanese shares gained by tracking a strong lead from Wall Street. Meanwhile the yen held steady despite reports suggesting that the Bank of Japan is eying a September rate hike and could move more aggressively with subsequent increases to stem the currency's falls. South Korea’s Kospi climbed, with technology stocks leading the gains on renewed optimism over AI spending. South Korean markets rose as data showed South Korea's export prices surged 49.1% year-on-year in July, marking the largest increase since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis.