Sensex, Nifty Recoup Losses To End On Flat Note

(RTTNews) - Indian markets cut early losses to end on a flat note Friday on the back of buying in banking, metal and auto shares.

The benchmark BSE Sensex hit an intraday low of 82,670.95 amid persistent foreign outflows and a cautious global mood after the release of weak U.S. labor market data.

With a bout of short-covering and hopes of progress in India-U.S. trade talks helping spur buying at lower levels, the Sensex eventually ended the session down 94.73 points, or 0.11 percent, at 83,216.28.

Global financial services firm HSBC retained its bullish view on the Indian equity market, saying it believes the Sensex will touch the 94,000-mark by December 2026, driven by earnings recovery, valuations and foreign inflows.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed down 17.40 points at 25,492.30 after having hit a low of 25,318.45 earlier.

The BSE mid-cap index edged up by 0.3 percent while the small-cap index ended little changed.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,106 shares falling while 2,066 shares advanced and 143 shares closed unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Bajaj FinServ, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance all rose around 2 percent while Bharti Airtel slumped 4.5 percent after Singtel sold about 0.8 percent stake in the company.

ITC, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, Trent, Reliance Industries and Tech Mahindra dropped 1-2 percent.

Globally, Asian markets ended sharply lower as U.S. private-sector job reports signaled weakness in the country's labor market and customs data showed Chinese exports unexpectedly fell in October after months of frontloading U.S. orders to beat President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Traders also weighed cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials expressing hesitation about continuing with further interest rate cuts.

European stocks struggled for direction in early trade amid persisting concerns about overvaluation in AI-related stocks and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's next policy move.

Gold ticked higher toward $4,000 an ounce as the dollar dipped on concerns about the U.S. economic outlook.

Oil prices were up nearly 1 percent in European trade, following three days of declines on worries about a global supply glut and weakening demand in the United States.