Indian equity markets lingered deep in red during late afternoon deals as investors remained concerned about escalating tension in West Asia. Further, the article on 'State of the Economy' published in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) April bulletin has alleviated concerns surrounding the West Asia conflict. The article said that ongoing conflict in West Asia and supply chain disruptions could pose challenges to the domestic economy in the form of higher energy costs, input cost pressures, disruption in trade flows and spillovers in financial markets. Moreover, the Brent crude oil prices have surged to trade above $106 a barrel on Friday, while foreign institutional investors net sold equities worth Rs 3,254.71 crore on Thursday’s session. Besides, traders took a cautious approach and shied away from any risky bets ahead of weekend.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed amid tension between US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz. European equity markets were trading lower tracking negative cues from Wall Street overnight. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76683.92, down by 980.08 points or 1.26% after trading in a range of 76403.87 and 77710.82. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were IT down by 5.24%, TECK down by 4.12%, Telecom down by 1.04%, Healthcare down by 1.03% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.99%, while there were no gainers on BSE sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Trent up by 1.95%, SBI up by 0.68%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.46%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.08% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.07%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 7.06%, HCL Technologies down by 5.83%, TCS down by 4.98%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.60% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 3.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India and Egypt advanced their defence cooperation at the 11th meeting of the India-Egypt Joint Defence Committee (JDC), held in Cairo. The discussions were productive and focused on enhancing bilateral defence cooperation across key areas of mutual interest.

Both sides undertook a comprehensive review of the progress made since the previous JDC meeting and charted out a forward-looking roadmap for defence engagement. They agreed on a bilateral defence cooperation plan 2026-27 focussing on expanding Structured Military interaction mechanisms, strengthening Joint training exchanges, enhancing maritime security cooperation, increasing scope & complexity of military exercises and promoting collaboration in defence production & technology.

Further, the two sides agreed to work together to develop a defence industry cooperation plan. The Defence Industry collaboration is emerging as a key pillar of India-Egypt defence ties with both sides exploring opportunities for co-development and co-production in the field of defence manufacturing. The 11th meeting reaffirmed the close relationship between the two countries and reinforced their mutual commitment towards regional security and stability.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23906.85, down by 266.20 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 23813.65 and 24206.00. There were 12 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Trent up by 1.72%, Coal India up by 1.24%, Nestle up by 1.10%, SBI up by 0.75% and Grasim Industries up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 6.95%, HCL Technologies down by 5.89%, TCS down by 4.91%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.66% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 3.31% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 576.77 points or 0.97% to 59,717.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1218.25 points or 3.13% to 38,932.40, Hang Seng advanced 117.8 points or 0.45% to 26,033.00 and Jakarta Composite plunged 256.01 points or 3.59% to 7,122.60, while KOSPI dropped 0.18 points or 0% to 6,475.63, Straits Times fell 16.4 points or 0.33% to 4,927.71 and Shanghai Composite weakened 13.35 points or 0.33% to 4,079.90.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 81.17 points or 0.78% to 10,375.84, France’s CAC fell 88.72 points or 1.08% to 8,138.60 and Germany’s DAX lost 130.75 points or 0.54% to 24,024.70.