Indian equity benchmarks opened in the red on Friday, tracking overnight losses in Wall Street.
US stocks closed lower on Thursday as hotter-than-expected inflation in the country dampened sentiments of investors.
A higher-than-anticipated jobless claims data also dented market sentiments in the US on Thursday.
At the time of writing, the BSE Sensex was down 0.2% at 81,447.24, while Nifty50 was slightly lower by 0.1% at 24,967.
“Overall we expect the market to consolidate in a range with stock-specific action. The IT sector is likely to be in focus as it will set the pace for other companies,” Siddhartha Khemka, head of research, wealth management at Motilal Oswal (NS:MOFS), told The Economic Times.
Bandhan Bank (NS:BANH) jumps 9%
Shares of Bandhan Bank jumped 9% on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India approved the appointment of Partha Pratim Sengupta as managing director and chief executive officer.
Sengupta will be appointed for a term of three years with effect from November 10.
At the time of writing, Bandhan Bank’s stock gained 9.3% to stand at 205,06 rupees on Friday.
IREDA shares rise post earnings results
Shares of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency rose 3% on Friday to hit an intraday high of 239.95 rupees earlier in the session.
However, the stock pared most of its gains, and was mostly unchanged at the time of writing.
The state-owned company on Thursday reported an increase of 36% in its profit after tax for the September quarter.
Meanwhile, the stock of Tata Consultancy (NS:TCS) Services Ltd dropped nearly 2% on Friday after the company posted modest earnings for the September quarter.
Analysts believe that the earnings were satisfactory and were in line with their estimates, with an optimistic management waiting for a turnaround in the near future.
This is based on the management’s confidence on positive demand outlook, and improvement in the macro environment, according to an Economic Times rapport.
Midcap IT stocks gain
Shares of most midcap information technology companies gained on Friday on the back of overall positive sentiment in the market.
Additionally, expectations that the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut interest rates in its upcoming policy meetings also buoyed sentiments.
Shares of Tata Elxsi (NS:TTEX) gained more than 2.5% on Friday, while those of Persistent Systems (NS:PERS) rose 1.9% from the previous close.
Similarly, the stock price of Mphasis (NS:MBFL) rose nearly 2%, and Coforge (NS:COFO) gained 0.4% earlier in the session.
ONGC gains 1% as oil prices surge
Shares of upstream company, Oil and Natural Gas (NS:ONGC) Corporation rose more than 1% on Friday on the back of higher crude oil prices.
Oil prices rose more than 3% on Thursday as supply disruptions in the US, and ongoing geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran supported prices. On Friday, prices were slightly lower.
ONGC’s shares gained as the company tends to make profits when oil prices rise.
As the company is in the business of exploration and production, it is sensitive to moving oil prices.
Shares of downstream oil marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum (NS:HPCL) Corp and Indian Oil (NS:IOC) Corporation were in the red on Friday.