India shares log longest weekly losing run since 2020 as oil prices bite

Indian shares posted modest gains on Friday in a partial rebound after previous session’s slide, but still logged their longest weekly losing streak in six years as high oil prices drove up bond yields and inflationary concerns.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.34% on the day to 23,140.50, while the Sensex added 0.43% to 73,895.74 on Friday. They lost 0.9% and 0.5% for the week, their seventh straight weekly decline.

Before this week, Nifty 50 had recorded seven or more consecutive weekly losses only four times in the last 25 years: in 2020, 2008 and twice in 2001. Its longest losing streak was nine weeks in 2001.

“The biggest challenge for the markets has been rising bond yields, driven by elevated crude oil prices. Investors are factoring in the possibility of further central bank rate hikes,” said Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Securities.

“If yields remain elevated, they could weigh on the broader economic outlook and raise concerns about equity valuations,” Pandey said.

Eleven of the 16 major sectors fell during the week. Heavyweight financials and information technology stocks lost 1.6% and 2.4%, both marking their fourth weekly losses.

Financials faced heavier selling this week on concerns that proposed insurance commission caps could hurt earnings, while IT stocks fell on concerns about rising US rates and AI concerns.

Brent crude hovered around $105.5 per barrel as markets weighed the possibility of a truce between the US and Iran against concerns over increasing attacks against Saudi Arabia by Houthi.

Oil prices have been a focal point for markets since late February when US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, triggering a war in the Middle East.

The broader small-caps and mid-caps lost 0.9% and 2.1% this week.

Analysts see no major turnaround in fortunes without significant improvement in Mideast tensions.

The week saw National Stock Exchange of India end a decade-long wait to list. The country’s largest bourse made a muted debut and was valued at around $47 billion.

State-run Coal India was the top weekly percentage gainer on Nifty 50, gaining about 4% on upbeat demand and earnings outlook.