India's BSE Sensex closed about 0.6% firmer at 83,952 on Friday, a peak since June 27, marking the third session of gains. Market sentiment was supported by optimism over corporate earnings, sustained foreign inflows and expectations of a rate cut in December. However, global uncertainties, particularly US-China trade frictions and the prolonged US shutdown, continued to worry investors. Among the top performers, Asian Paints extended its rally into a third day, rising over 4%, on optimism about its international expansion after starting commercial production at its new white cement plant in Fujairah, UAE. Nestle India shares rose as much as 2.5%, extending yesterday's gain, after the FMCG major’s Q2 FY26 results surpassed expectations on both sales and profitability. Also, banks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank advanced 1.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Reliance Industries added 1.3% in anticipation of its Q2 results due after market hours. For the week, the index rose about 1.7%.
The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.95% to close at 3,840, while the Shenzhen Component sank 3.04% to 12,688 on Friday, with the latter tumbling almost 5% for the week lower as escalating US-China trade tensions weighed on sentiment. Chinese equities also tracked Wall Street losses after two US banks reported bad loans, raising concerns over broader credit market stress. Beijing accused Washington of deliberately fueling panic over rare earth controls, while US officials warned that such measures threaten global supply chains. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in South Korea later this month in an effort to ease tensions. Investors also await the upcoming Fourth Plenum for fresh policy direction. Technology and clean energy stocks led the selloff amid profit-taking, with ZTE Corp, Cambricon Technologies, Luxshare Precision, Sungrow Power, and Contemporary Amperex losing between 2.1% and 10.9%.
