Business Recorder
Indian shares posted a weekly loss on Friday and the rupee slid past the 96-per-dollar level as surging oil prices weighed on sentiment, while IT stocks declined on renewed concerns over AI-led earnings disruption. Brent crude climbed 3.4% to $109.3 a barrel after an attack on one ship and the seizure of another in the Middle East intensified energy-supply worries. The rupee weakened to a record low on Friday and has declined 1.5% this week. Foreign outflows were at a record $23.63 billion so far in 2026. On the day, the Nifty 50 fell 0.19% to 23,643.50 and the Sensex shed 0.21% to 75,237.99. They lost 2.2% and 2.7% for the week, snapping a two-week winning streak. Thirteen of the 16 major sectors logged weekly losses. Broader small- and mid-caps fell 4.6% and 2.2%, respectively. IT index’s gains of 1.3% on Friday did little to erase its decline of 5.7% over the week as OpenAI’s launch of a new AI venture, backed by a $4 billion investment, heightened worries over revenue risks for IT companies. A hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation print, which has raised the odds of a rate hike this year, also pressured the sector. “Investors have turned cautious with rising U.S. bond yields, a weaker rupee and fresh fuel price hikes reviving inflation concerns,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments. Favourable valuations and a solid quarterly earnings season have limited the downside, he added. Adani Enterprises rose 8.4% this week after Uber said it would set up its first India data centre with the group. Reports on Thursday that the U.S. Justice Department is close to dropping criminal fraud charges against founder Gautam Adani further lifted sentiment. ONGC gained 7.2%, after the government cut royalties on crude oil and gas production. Titan fell 7.5% after a quarterly profit miss and as jewellery stocks slid following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to avoid gold purchases for a year. On the day, BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil lost between 2.9% and 4.2%, as higher Brent prices outweighed a more than 3% hike in petrol and diesel prices. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles rose 5.3% on optimism over launches, cost-cutting measures and strong volume guidance.
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