Sensex Today | Stock Market Highlights: Nifty above 23,700 as banks rally; IT weakens for third day

Stock Market Highlights: Markets ended higher on Friday but erased a large part of their intraday gains amid volatility. The Sensex rose 232 points to close at 75,415, while the Nifty gained 65 points to settle above the 23,700 mark at 23,719.

Banking stocks outperformed, with the Nifty Bank index rising 616 points to 54,055. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top contributors to the Nifty’s gains, while all Nifty Bank constituents ended higher except SBI.

The rupee staged a strong recovery, ending at a one-week high of 95.68 against the US dollar compared to Thursday’s close of 96.20. The currency has now rebounded 1.3% from its record low of 96.96 hit on May 20 and gained 1.2% over the last two sessions.

Among stocks, Sun Pharma fell nearly 3% after reporting Q4 results below estimates, while Max Healthcare declined 6% following weak quarterly earnings. ITC dropped 2% amid concerns over cigarette volume growth, and Maruti Suzuki ended lower after announcing a price hike of up to ₹30,000 effective June 2026.

In the broader market, the Midcap index rose 89 points to 61,389, while market breadth remained neutral with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 1:1.

For the week, both the Sensex and Nifty gained over 0.5% amid continued volatility. Nifty IT and Realty were the top-performing sectoral indices, rising to 4%, while PSU and PSU Bank indices underperformed, falling nearly 2% each.