The markets on Friday performed poorly for a second straight session with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex falling more than 200 points and the National Stock Exchange Nifty dropping 0.69%. While Thursday’s Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meet announcement continued to affect the domestic share markets, the United States’ cruise missile attacks launched on a Syrian air base weakened the global markets.
The benchmark BSE closed 221 points lower at 29,706.61, while NSE Nifty ended at 9,198. Stocks of Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular rose after Reliance Jio announced it would withdraw its “summer surprise” offer because of an order from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Sun Pharmaceuticals was the biggest loser on both the bourses going down around 3% and Reliance Industries traded in red close to 2.5%.
Bharat Petroleum (+4.58%), Indian Oil Corporation (+3.02), Infratel (+2.59) and TCS (+1.33%) were the biggest gainers on Nifty50. Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda (-3.66%), Lupin Pharmaceuticals (-2.77%), Adani Ports (-2.41%) performed poorly on the NSE.
However, the Indian rupee remained strong at 64.19 against a dollar, hitting a high after over a year on Friday.
Oil prices soared by 2% to a one-month high on Friday in a “knee-jerk reaction” to the United States’ missile strikes on Syrian airbases, before dropping marginally. A US military official said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were used to target fighterjets and other infrastructure at the Al Shayrat airfield in Syria. Russia was informed of the strike beforehand to prevent any damage to their arsenal. US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the military strike in USA’s “national security interest”.
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