Indian equity benchmarks nosedived in Friday’s session (May 9, 2025) as India continued its retaliation across major cities in Pakistan following the neighbouring country’s failed attempts to target bordering regions on the Indian side, including Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir. The BSE Sensex index tumbled 952 points or 1.2 per cent, while the NSE’s Nifty dropped 156 points to 24,117.
Meanwhile, the broader markets underperformed the headline indices with the small-cap index down nearly 2 per cent.
Nifty Bank, on the other hand, traded lower by nearly 1 per cent dragged by counters including Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank among others.
From the Nifty50 basket, top gainers included Tata Motors, Titan, L&T, Bharat Electronics and Asian Paints, while laggards were Power Grid Corporation, Jio Financial, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Life.
Sectoral performance:
In a mixed show, auto, PSU Bank and consumer durable stocks traded in the green, while all other sectoral gauges posted losses led by the realty index.
Stocks to watch:
Canara Bank: Shares of the PSU lender will be in focus after the bank’s standalone PAT jumped 33 per cent on-year to Rs 5,004 crore in the March quarter.
Punjab National Bank: After the lender’s CEO said the bank targets record-low bad loan ratio on higher debt recoveries, its shares will gain traction today.
Titan: Shares of the watchmaker to jewellery retailer will be in focus post its March quarter earnings. For the review period, the company reported net profit of Rs 870 crore, a 11 per cent on-year increase.
Defence stocks: Amid the rising conflict between India and Pakistan, defence stocks will be on radar.
Asian markets
Asian stocks inched higher today after the US clinched its first trade deal with the UK. The key MSCI Asia ex Japan index, however, traded lower with a tad cut of 0.05 per cent.
Oil prices
Oil prices gained amid optimism around the trade deal between the US and China this weekend. Brent traded near $63 a barrel after advancing 2.8 per cent in the previous session, and West Texas Intermediate was near $60.
