Indian shares post weekly losses as elevated crude keeps sentiment subdued

Indian shares rose on Friday after declining for four straight sessions but logged weekly losses as high crude prices and bond yields earlier in the week outweighed robust domestic growth and tax-collection data.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.1% to 23,897.7, while the Sensex gained 0.48% to 76,515.43. Ahead of the closing auction, the indexes were up 0.27% and 0.65%, respectively.

For the week, the benchmarks lost 1.2% and 1%, marking their fourth consecutive weekly decline and their longest losing streak in five months.

Brent crude jumped about 7% this week as intensifying U.S.-Iran hostilities stoked inflation concerns and drove global bond yields higher, pressuring risk assets.

“Crude remains the market’s central overhang, leaving investors wary of the near-term outlook,” said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors, adding “even strong domestic growth data and GST collections have struggled to lift sentiment meaningfully this week.”

“A busy IPO pipeline could also divert substantial flows into primary offerings and keep secondary-market trading muted next week,” Dasgupta added.

Twelve of the 16 major sectors declined for the week. Small-caps gained 0.1%, while mid-caps fell 1.5%.

The auto index lost 4% on concerns that sales growth could slow amid a high base and potentially weaker rural demand following a rainfall deficit. Maruti fell 5.1%, while Mahindra and Mahindra lost 4.9%.

Coal India bucked the broader weakness, rising 3.6% on improving September-quarter earnings visibility, aided by higher August e-auction premiums and coal offtake.

On Friday, capital-market stocks rallied after SEBI said it will review the methodology to determine derivatives settlement pricing following volatility linked to the newly introduced closing auction.

BSE jumped 3.1%, Angel One gained 4.8%, while Groww and Motilal Oswal rose 2.2% and 2.4%, respectively.

While dovish comments from a Federal Reserve governor eased global bond yields and lifted equities on Friday, broader risk aversion prevails ahead of the U.S. jobs data later in the day, which could influence the future rate trajectory.