Upbeat earnings reports from ITC and ICICI Bank helped the Indian market end a volatile session modestly higher on Friday. After trading in the red for most of the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex saw a late-session bounce back to end up 91 points or 0.46% at 20,032, with only 9 of its components edging higher.
The broader Nifty rose by 30 points or half a percent to 6,018, while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes fell 0.87% and 1.50%, respectively, suggesting that investors are turning more cautious before the RBI monetary policy meet due on Tuesday. In the broader market, declining shares outpaced gaining ones by 2137 to 865 shares.
The central bank is likely to go for another modest rate hike next week to contain inflation, especially food inflation, which remains worryingly high. Recent data showed that food inflation rose to 13.75% in the week ended October 16.
Among the top gainers, ICICI Bank climbed 6.54% after the private sector lender reported a 22% rise in its second-quarter consolidated net profit, surpassing analyst estimates. Diversified business conglomerate ITC advanced 2.33% after posting a 23% rise in quarterly net profit.
Maruti Suzuki (up 1.86%), Reliance Industries (up 1.18%), Larsen & Toubro (up 0.92%), Jindal Steel (up 0.77%), Cipla (up 0.67%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.58%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.24%) were the other prominent gainers.
On the flip side, metal stocks such as Sterlite, Tata Steel and Hindalco fell between 1% and 3%. Automaker Tata Motors declined 2.61%. Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda Motors shed 1.86% ahead of its results to be announced later in the day.
Software exporter Wipro gave off 1.77%, telecon giant Bharti Airtel lost 1.44%, infrastructure firm Jaiprkash Associates declined 1.76%, property developer DLF eased 1.42% and state-run lender SBI ended down 0.83%.
Cairn India pared most of its initial gains to end 0.66% higher on strong results. UCO Bank, SAIL, Balaji Telefilms, ABB, Bharat Electronics and Tata Chemicals fell between 3% and 9% on disappointing results.
Radico Khaitan rose 0.88% after its Q2 net profit rose significantly to Rs.18.8 crore versus Rs 9.7 crore in the year-ago period. Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 0.22% after posting a modest 8% rise in its quarterly earnings.
Elsewhere, most Asian stocks fell on Friday, led by Japanese and South Korean shares, as Sharp Corp. and Advantest cut their profit forecasts and Samsung said oversupply in the memory semiconductor market and the recent appreciation of the Korean won will put downward pressure on its fourth quarter earnings.
Industrial production data for September from both Japan and South Korea also disappointed investors, as they awaited third-quarter U.S. GDP data due later in the day and next week's key Federal Reserve meeting and U.S. mid-term elections.
Crude prices drifted lower, after rising $0.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight, as the dollar steadied against the euro, on speculation about the magnitude and timing of Fed's second round of quantitative easing.
The major European markets also fell about half a percent in early trading and the U.S. stock futures signaled a subdued start on Wall Street Friday.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.