Indian benchmark indices rose on Friday, snapping their longest weekly losing streak in 25 years, as buying in information technology stocks and a decline in oil prices supported sentiment.

The Nifty50 gained 1.30% to 22,520.45, while the Sensex rose 1.23% to 72,472.33, recovering from two consecutive sessions of losses. Concerns over tighter monetary policy and elevated crude oil prices limited the recovery.

IT stocks led Friday's gains after Tata Consultancy Services' quarterly results highlighted growing artificial intelligence-related revenue contributions and robust international business growth. Investors largely looked past the US government's suspension of some IT firms from the Permanent Labor Certification programme.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, ITC and Eicher Motors were the top Nifty 50 gainers, while the Nifty IT index outperformed its peers. The Nifty Oil and Gas index was the worst-performing sector. The Nifty MidCap 100 rose 1.56%, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 gained 0.54%.

Financial stocks also supported the weekly recovery. The Nifty Financial Services index gained 1.7% over the week, aided by strong quarterly business updates and the absence of additional liquidity-withdrawal measures from the Reserve Bank of India following its 25-basis-point rate hike on Wednesday. The Nifty IT index rose 1% for the week.

The rupee ended nearly flat at 96.73 per US dollar, remaining close to its record low of 96.96 reached in May. The currency remained under pressure from elevated importer hedging and persistent foreign portfolio outflows, despite frequent intervention by the RBI.

Indian government bond yields rose as traders positioned for the possibility of further liquidity-absorption measures by the RBI and added short positions ahead of the weekend. The benchmark 6.94%, 2036 bond yield rose to 7.3043% intraday but closed at 7.2994% up from 7.2868% on Thursday, after touching an intraday high of 7.3136%, its highest level since November 2023.

Top Movers of the Day

Tata Consultancy Services gained 4.60% to ₹2,171.50 alongside other IT stocks after positive TCS results for July-September quarter and resilient AI-related performance.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise rose 4.47% to ₹8,008.50, ranked among the Nifty 50's top gainers as healthcare stocks attracted buying during the broader market rebound.

Max Healthcare Institute rose alongside other healthcare stocks during the market recovery. No specific company announcement was cited as the day's catalyst.

KEC International jumped 4.62% intraday to ₹365.75 after Kotak Securities upgraded the stock to “Buy”.

NCC climbed 4.23% intraday to ₹125 after securing a ₹12.86-billion order from Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited for a road construction project from Budwel to Shabad in Telangana.

Rishabh Instruments rose as much as 6.22% to ₹685 after Choice Institutional initiated coverage and projected 34% upside.

ITC gained 4.47% to ₹266.40, emerging as a massive ₹93.95 billion stake sale/block deal by a GQG Partners-linked fund.  

Torrent Power fell 2.27% intraday to ₹1,187, touching a 31-month low, amid concerns over exposure to gas-price volatility, foreign-exchange movements and geopolitical uncertainty.

HDFC Bank rose 2.30% to ₹708. 20 after in reaction to the RBI’s Repo rate hike this week and on Kotak Institutional Equities notes that highlighted structural shifts in balance sheet with pro-cyclical loan yield could support NIM expansion for private banks.

Futures & Options
The Nifty October 2026 futures closed at 22,625, a premium of 104.55 points over the Nifty 50's cash-market close of 22,520.45. The Nifty 50 rose 288.65 points, or 1.30%, during the session, while the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of expected near-term volatility, fell 6.07% to 14.35.

HDFC Bank, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the most-traded individual stock futures contracts in the NSE's F&O segment. The October 2026 F&O contracts will expire on 27 October 2026.

Bonds
Indian government bond yields rose on Friday as traders anticipated further RBI liquidity absorption and added short positions before the weekend. The benchmark 6.94%, 2036 bond yield ended at 7.2994%, up from 7.2868% on Thursday, after hitting 7.3136%, it’s highest since November 2023.

Uncertainty over further RBI rate hikes and possible open-market bond sales prompted some traders to increase short positions ahead of potential after-hours announcements. Caution also prevailed before next week's September inflation data, expected near the top of the RBI's tolerance band and potentially prompting larger rate hikes.

Forex
The Indian rupee ended nearly unchanged at 96.73 per US dollar on Friday but declined over the week, as the Reserve Bank of India's first-rate hike in nearly four years did little to support the currency amid adverse hedging demand and persistent foreign portfolio outflows.

Dollar sales by state-run banks, likely on behalf of the RBI, helped limit the rupee's losses, keeping it close to its record low of 96.96 reached in May. Frequent central bank intervention has curbed the currency's decline, although elevated importer hedging and continued foreign selling of Indian equities have kept pressure on the exchange rate.

Crypto
The cryptocurrency market remained under selling pressure on Friday, with total market capitalisation falling to around $2.80 trillion amid concerns over elevated oil prices and geopolitical tensions. Bitcoin briefly fell below $81,000 to a multi-week low of $80,316 before recovering to around $82,620, as traders watched the $83,000 level for signs of a sustained rebound. Further selling could bring the $80,000 psychological support level back into focus.

Ethereum underperformed, declining more than 8% over the week and slipping below its recent consolidation range near $2,690. The token traded around $2,550, a key support zone. Sentiment was also weighed by reports that the US government moved $1 billion worth of seized Bitcoin linked to the Bitfinex hack to unidentified wallets, raising concerns over potential selling pressure.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures edged higher on Friday, led by technology shares, after Wall Street ended lower in the previous session as an underwhelming OpenAI revenue update weighed on the artificial intelligence trade. Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.8%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.4%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 82 points, or 0.2%.

AI stocks came under pressure on Thursday after OpenAI told investors it had reached $50 billion in annualised revenue at the end of September, below the $68 billion figure widely reported last month. A person familiar with the matter said the earlier figure also included gross revenue from partners, adding uncertainty over the scale of OpenAI's revenue growth.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury note yields edged higher during a volatile session, with the 10-year yield hovering around 5.23%-5.24% and the 30-year yield near 5.61%. Yields remained just below the 24-year highs reached earlier in the week as investors assessed geopolitical developments, including diplomatic signals regarding Iran.

Strong demand at recent Treasury auctions provided some support, including a $39 billion 10-year note sale that cleared at a yield of 5.30%. However, persistent oil-driven inflation concerns, rising public debt and potential unwinding of leveraged hedge fund positions continued to weigh on sentiment. Some institutional investors have warned that these pressures could push the 10-year yield towards 6%.

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