India’s BSE Sensex shed nearly 20 points to settle at 74,295 on Friday, tracking cautious global sentiment after the US Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate hike in more than three years and signalled further increases this year. This raised concerns over foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows, while geopolitical tensions remained elevated. At the same time, ongoing strong IPO activity continued to put pressure on the market. Tata Group stocks led losses, with TCS, Titan and Tata Steel falling between 1.7% and 4.3%, amid fresh uncertainty about the conglomerate's control structure and leadership. Other top losers included Asian Paints (-2%), Maruti (-2%), Tech Mahindra (-1.8%), Sun Pharma (-1.6%) and NTPC (-1.6%). On the flip side, Adani Ports outperformed, climbing 3.8%, after global brokerage Jefferies highlighted multiple growth drivers across the group’s infrastructure and energy businesses. For the week, the index shed about 0.7%.
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.9% to above 64,600 on Friday, rising for the third straight session as the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% in a widely expected move. Investors will now look for guidance on the possibility of further tightening as policymakers grapple with elevated inflation and wage growth, along with pressure from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Meanwhile, Japan’s annual inflation rate held steady at 1.9% in August, while core inflation stayed below the BOJ’s 2% target for a seventh straight month at 1.7%. Technology and AI-related stocks led the gains following similar advances on Wall Street overnight, as concerns over AI development safety risks eased. Notable performers included Kioxia (3.2%), SoftBank Group (4.1%), Advantest (4%).
