Nifty ends the week with a firmer Friday as IT stocks lead

Indian equities ended the week on a firmer note after a volatile run of sessions. The immediate catalyst was a broad rally in technology stocks after Nvidia reported strong quarterly growth and gave an upbeat outlook for artificial-intelligence demand. TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies were the leading Nifty gainers on Friday.

The market reaction was consistent with the sector’s sensitivity to global technology spending. Nvidia’s update improved sentiment towards Indian IT exporters, although the material does not establish a change in client budgets or technology demand for Indian companies. Earlier in the week, the market had also been unsettled by geopolitical tensions, elevated oil prices and higher US bond yields.

Financials were less supportive. Shriram Finance and SBI Life were among the weaker names cited in daily market reports, while consumer-facing stocks and cement-related counters also lagged. The available material does not identify a single company-specific trigger for the broader weakness in FMCG, retail, NBFCs or insurance, so the sector moves should not be attributed to one event.

The week’s market narrative was shaped by competing external signals. Traders linked the early-week pressure to geopolitical tensions and the prospect of fresh US sanctions on Iran, while crude remained elevated. By Friday, oil prices had eased as markets weighed possible arrangements affecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. That offered some relief to India’s import bill and inflation sensitivity, but the issue remained a risk for energy-intensive companies and the rupee.

US rate expectations remained another source of volatility. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole remarks kept attention on the possibility of a rate increase later in the year, according to market reports. US Treasury yields rose on Friday and Asian markets were cautious ahead of the speech. For Indian equities, the combination of higher global yields and uncertain foreign flows restrained the breadth of the technology-led rebound.

Domestic institutions provided an important counterweight to foreign selling. Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 5,040 crore of Indian equities on August 28, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 5,184 crore, according to provisional exchange data. The figures point to continued domestic support, but they also show why a favourable global technology impulse did not translate into an across-the-board advance.

The Reserve Bank of India resumed its liquidity-absorption operations after skipping a variable-rate reverse repo auction on August 26, a settlement holiday. It notified an overnight auction of Rs 2,00,000 crore for August 27, reversing on August 28. The available material does not indicate a new monetary-policy decision during the week.

SEBI listed a circular on the IT Resilience Index for market infrastructure institutions on August 24. The initiative is relevant to the operational resilience of exchanges and other market infrastructure, but the material does not provide an immediate earnings or valuation impact for listed companies.

India’s industrial production rose 6.7% year-on-year in July, down from an upwardly revised 8.8% in June but above the 5.4% recorded in July 2025. Manufacturing grew 7.3% year-on-year and capital-goods output rose 16.1%, while mining contracted 0.9%. The data suggest that investment-linked activity remained firm even as the month-on-month pace moderated.

The HSBC Flash Composite PMI rose to 54.6 in August from 54.3 in July. Services improved to 54.5 from 53.3, while manufacturing eased to 52.9 from 53.5 and was reported as the weakest expansion in about five years. No CPI, GST or trade release is identified in the available material for the week.

US technology shares strengthened after Nvidia’s results and outlook, supporting the late-week recovery in Indian IT. Asian markets were more cautious as investors waited for the Jackson Hole address and assessed the implications of higher US yields. The global backdrop therefore helped India’s technology exporters while remaining less supportive for rate-sensitive and domestically oriented segments.

Brent crude settled lower on Friday and was down more than 5% for the week, according to Reuters. The decline reduced some of the pressure on India’s external balances and imported inflation, although the level of crude remained a key monitorable because geopolitical developments could quickly reverse the move.

The dollar and bond markets remained tied to the US rate outlook. A stronger US yield profile can raise the relative appeal of dollar assets and complicate emerging-market flows, while a weaker oil price works in the opposite direction for India. The rupee’s Friday recovery was attributed in market reports to softer oil and RBI intervention.

Corporate news was led by order announcements and a mixed set of first-quarter updates. Tejas Networks secured a Rs 1,537 crore order from Tata Consultancy Services for BSNL 4G radio-access equipment. The order is significant relative to the company’s recent quarterly revenue, but the material does not provide a market consensus estimate against which to measure the expected financial contribution.

Star Cement reported first-quarter net profit of Rs 74 crore, down 25% year-on-year, while revenue rose 3% to Rs 943 crore on 4% volume growth. EBITDA fell 12% year-on-year to Rs 203 crore, with higher fuel and logistics costs cited in the available material. The company also said its expansion plans in Rajasthan and Haryana, worth Rs 3,080 crore, were targeted for completion by FY29. No consensus estimate was provided, so the earnings surprise cannot be established.

Manipal Health Enterprises reported first-quarter revenue growth of 38% year-on-year to Rs 3,091 crore. Network EBITDA rose 26% to Rs 749 crore and the operating margin was 24.2%, while occupancy improved 290 basis points to 65.0%. Hero MotoCorp also increased its stake in Ather Energy to about 32.8% through a Rs 1,758 crore transaction. The material does not include a comparable consensus expectation for either development.

The primary market remained active. Priority Jewels opened its mainboard issue on August 28 and is scheduled to close on September 1, while Paluck Technologies and Complete Sports and Management India opened SME issues on the same day with the same closing date. Annu Projects and Sumax Engineering were scheduled to close their issues on August 28.

The available material also points to a busy listing calendar, with eight companies scheduled to list around the week, but it does not provide a verified list of the companies or their listing-day performance. No verified block or bulk deal is identified in the material reviewed.