BAROMETERS TRADE WITH DEEP CUTS; NIFTY TRADES BELOW 23,900

The headline equity benchmarks traded with major losses in the afternoon trade as investor sentiment remained cautious amid stalled US-Iran negotiations, uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a sharp surge in crude oil prices above the $105-per-barrel mark. Until signs of de-escalation emerge, the overhang on crude oil prices, the rupee, and institutional flows is expected to persist. Investors are also closely monitoring Q4 earnings for further cues.

The Nifty traded below the 23,900 level. All the sectoral indices on the NSE were traded in the red, with IT, media and pharma shares declining the most.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1,108.47 points or 1.42% to 76,557.77. The Nifty 50 index slumped 309.60 points or 1.28% to 23,852.05.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index slumped 1.29% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index tumbled 1.41%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,096 shares rose and 2,980 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Coal India (up 1.22%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.64%), Grasim Industries (up 0.52%), Nestle India (up 0.43%) and Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (up 0.29%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

Infosys (down 6.09%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 5.01%), Tech Mahindra (down 4.79%), HCL Technologies (down 4.12%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 3.12%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) fell 4.27%. The company said that it has secured a significant infrastructure contract worth Rs 2,917 crore from the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) for the construction of a 22.21 km raw water tunnel and a 250 MLD water treatment plant in Raigad.

Aditya Birla Real Estate shed 0.35%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Birla Estates, recorded a booking value of Rs 8,136 crore in FY26, following a strong performance in the previous year, driven by robust demand across key residential markets.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC added 1.04%. The company�s consolidated net profit declined 17.96% to Rs 187.11 crore in Q4 FY26 as against Rs 228.08 crore in Q4 FY25. However, revenue from operations jumped 6.85% year on year to Rs 458.23 crore in Q4 FY26.

Atul Auto gained 4.47% after the company entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Exponent Energy to manufacture and supply 15,000 electric three-wheelers integrated with the latter`s battery system and powertrain.

UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC) tumbled 10.23% after the AMC reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 67 crore in Q4 FY26 as against a net profit of Rs 87 crore in Q4 FY25. Total revenue from operations rose by 4% YoY to Rs 390 crore in the March 2026 quarter.

Cyient slipped 5.87% after the company reported a 32.61% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 65.5 crore despite a 3.94% rise in total income to Rs 1,953.5 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q3 FY26.

Global Markets:

European markets declined, while Asian markets traded mixed on Friday, as hopes of an imminent deal to end the Iran war faded and concerns over oil supply disruptions persisted.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks following a meeting in the White House with top U.S. officials, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

The temporary truce, originally set to expire after 10 days, will now provide additional time for diplomatic efforts, with Washington also pledging to work with Lebanon to strengthen its defenses against Hezbollah.

Japan�s core inflation accelerated for the first time in five months, rising to 1.8% in March, with Iran war fueling energy worries. Government data showed the inflation figure, which strips out prices of fresh food, was in line with the 1.8% estimate that was widely reported in the media and was higher than the 1.6% seen in February.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks pulled back on Thursday, led by a drop in software shares and higher oil prices, as investor uncertainty about the trajectory of the Iran war weighed on markets.

The S&P 500 traded down 0.41% to close at 7,108.40 after earlier hitting a new all-time intraday high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.89% to finish at 24,438.50. It had also scored a new all-time high in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 179.71 points, or 0.36%, to finish at 49,310.32.