BSE Sensex: Market gains fizzle out as conflict concerns linger

Mumbai: India’s equity benchmarks ended slightly higher on Friday after giving up most of the early gains, as traders, worried over a possible military conflict between India and Pakistan, opted to cut some of their bets ahead of the weekend.

The BSE Sensex rose 0.3%, or 260 points, to end at 80,502. The NSE Nifty50 edged up 0.05%, or 13 points, to close at 24,347. Both indices gained 1.5% this week-marking the third straight weekly gain for Indian equities-the longest such streak since December 2024.

“Domestic equity markets are nervous in the backdrop of a potential escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan,” said Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental equity research, SBI Securities. The stock market had risen over 1.04% earlier in the day, tracking strong trends in the rest of Asia, after China said that it was evaluating possible trade talks with the US, helping reverse weakness after disappointing results from Apple and Amazon.

Chinese markets are shut for Labour Day. Hong Kong rose 1.7%. Taiwan jumped 2.7%, Japan gained 1%, South Korea moved up 0.1%, and Indonesia advanced 0.7%. The pan-Europe index Stoxx 600 was up 1.6% at the time of going to print.

China’s commerce ministry’s statement on Friday that it may be open to starting trade talks with the US raised hopes for de-escalation of the tariff war between the world’s largest economies.

At home, Adani Ports led the Nifty gainers, rallying 4.1%, followed by Bajaj Finance, which rose 2.6%. JSW Steel shares fell 6% following a Supreme Court ruling that deemed the company’s resolution plan for Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) as “illegal”.