Nifty, Sensex rise nearly 1% this week, metals and defence stocks shine

The stock market ended higher on Friday, capping the first week of October with solid gains as broad-based buying lifted benchmarks and sectoral indices alike.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 58 points, or 0.2%, to close at 24,894, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 224 points, or 0.3%, to settle at 81,207, finishing near the day’s highs. For the week, both indices advanced nearly 1% each.

According to Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, Nifty is expected to trade in a mildly bullish range of 24,750–25,100, with support at 24,750 and resistance at 25,000–25,100.

Banking, metal and auto stocks provided the biggest boost, with the Nifty Bank climbing 241 points to 55,589 and the Nifty Midcap 100 surging 474 points to 57,503. All sectoral indices closed in the green, led by PSU banks and metals, each up 4% for the week. Defence stocks also advanced more than 2%, tracking supportive commentary ahead of Air Force Day.

Among gainers, Tata Motors, Shriram Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank topped the Nifty pack, while Hindalco, Tata Steel and Nalco drove the metals rally. Hero MotoCorp rose over 2% on upbeat sales data, and UPL gained more than 2% after sources said it was set to sign a deal with PepsiCo.

In midcaps, MRPL, L&T Finance, Hindustan Zinc, Vodafone Idea and Aditya Birla Capital were the top performers, while PN Gadgil and PC Jeweller surged up to 5% on festive sales updates.

Coal India was the biggest Nifty loser, falling nearly 2% after its September production update. Union Bank slipped close to 1%, even as Indian Bank rose over 3% on Q2 updates. Sammaan Capital snapped a six-day winning streak, falling more than 4% on deal news, while PB Fin Services pared early gains after reports of commission cuts for insurers.

Market breadth remained strong, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 2:1, underscoring the outperformance of broader markets.