Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Friday

The Indian stock market closed in the deep green on Thursday, with Sensex and Nifty rising more than 0.7% each as oil prices fell to $70 per barrel. Sensex jumped nearly 580 points to close at 77,502, while Nifty 50 jumped around 170 points to end the session at 24,176. This came as India VIX, which measures volatility in market, tumbled nearly 8% to 12.22.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse

Indian markets ended higher as easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz pushed crude prices lower, while dovish remarks from the Fed Chair reinforced expectations of moderating inflation and a supportive global rate environment, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.


He noted that the sentiment was further aided by optimism surrounding the India–Japan Summit, with investors anticipating deals on trade, defence, semiconductors, AI cooperation, a proposed rupee-yen settlement framework and deepening bilateral capital flows. “Sectorally, the standout performer was the IT sector, which, supported by short covering, also rallied following the strengthening view that Indian IT firms will remain a key enabler of enterprise AI adoption. Going forward, market direction will be driven by the US non-farm payrolls data, the developments from the India–Japan summit, and the incoming Q1 FY27 earnings results,” he added.

US stocks

Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday following weaker than expected jobs data that markets viewed as diminishing the odds of Federal Reserve interest rate increases.
Total US nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000, about half the expected level in a data report that also downgraded jobs growth in the prior two months.

Markets have been girding for a potential rate hike in 2026 after new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh focused almost entirely on price stability, viewing the jobs market as strong. But Thursday's data may alter that dynamic.

European markets

European shares advanced as strength in defensive stocks offset tech weakness, and gained momentum after the U.S. jobs data release.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.6%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 41.08 points, or 1.60%.

Tech view

Nifty has broken out of its recent consolidation, indicating improving market sentiment, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. He noted that the benchmark index is sustaining above its critical moving averages, reinforcing the positive trend. The momentum oscillator RSI has also broken above its falling trendline, signalling strengthening momentum.

“In the near term, the trend is likely to remain positive, with the index having the potential to advance towards 24,300–24,500. On the downside, immediate support is placed at 24,000. A breach below this level could drag the index back into a phase of consolidation,” he added.

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

HDFC Bank (Rs 2,725 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 2,320 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 2,202 crore), Orient Refractories (Rs 2,124 crore), Infosys (Rs 1,938 crore), Zensar Tech (Rs 1,845 crore) and State Bank of India (Rs 1,544 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 28.90 crore), Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 12.87 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 7.14 crore), Sagility India (Traded shares: 6.76 crore), Yes Bank (Traded shares: 5.71 crore), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Traded shares: 5.16 crore) and Suzlon Energy (5.12 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Zensar Tech, C.E. Info Systems, Exide Industries, Sona BLW Precision, Tata Technologies, Persistent Systems and Apollo Tyres were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52-week high

Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs on NSE included Sona BLW Precision, Aegis Logistics, ITD Cementation, Zydus Wellness, Ami Organics, Emmvee Photovoltaic and Inventurus Knowledge.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Bank of Baroda, Thermax, AIA Engineering, RITES, HFCL, Avenue Supermart and BHEL.

52-week low

Among the ones that hit their 52-week lows on NSE included KPIT Tech and Wipro.

Sentiment meter favours bulls

Out of the 3,452 stocks that traded on the NSE on July 2, Thursday, 2,226 stocks witnessed advances, 1,145 saw declines while 81 stocks remained unchanged.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)