Hello Readers, 

Here’s the week in a recap…

Indian equities navigated a volatile week, with robust corporate earnings helping offset the impact of geopolitical tensions, rising crude prices, and a depreciating Rupee. 

Weekly Overview 

Indian equity market rebounded during the week ended on 17 July 2026 as TCS kick-started the earnings season on a positive note. Even though the US and Iran tensions escalated through the week, positive earnings results of several companies offset the geopolitical woes. 

Both the equity benchmark indices Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex gained through the week. Nifty 50 rallied 1.09% on Friday and closed with a weekly gain of 0.53%. BSE Sensex jumped 1.25% on Friday, and overall gained 0.75% during the entire week. 

However, the broader markets were under pressure owing to the rising crude prices, inflation increasing over RBI’s target, depreciation of the rupee, and other factors. 

Nifty Midcap 150 index slipped 0.86% during the week, including its Friday’s 0.4% decrease. Nifty Smallcap 250 index also declined by over 0.6% during the week, while being down by 0.58% in the intraday session on Friday. 

Market volatility rose through the week, as indicated by the rising India VIX, which went up from 12.25 a week ago to 13.15 on Friday. 

Weekly Performance of Key Indices 

(Source: NSE, BSE)

Key Market Triggers 

The biggest trigger for the markets this week was Q1FY27 earnings, which started on a positive note with TCS reporting positive results. Many other companies announced their financial results during the week, which include Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Federal Bank, Jio Financial and others. Overall, the Q1 results are better-than-expected for most of the businesses, which has made investors rejoice. 

Having said that, other triggers through the week were mostly negative as June inflation crossed the RBI’s target by rising to 4.38%, while the RBI’s upper limit for inflation is 4%. Inflation went beyond this cap for the first time in the past 17 months, mainly driven by higher food and fuel prices.

Crude prices sharply rose during the week as the US and Iran issue escalates, putting the Strait of Hormuz under threat again, restricting shipment passage. Brent Crude rose over $85 per barrel by the end of the week. 

Rising inflation and crude prices raise concerns over India’s fiscal and monetary policies, along with the current account deficit widening. While these factors weighed on the market in the initial days of the week, investors focused on corporate earnings later in the week, which made the overall market gain towards the end of the week. 

As crude prices surged and the geopolitical crisis is heightening, the rupee is again under pressure. The rupee depreciated to ₹96.3 per US Dollar, which is the sharpest decline since May 2026. 

FIIs again turned net sellers in the Indian equity market as they sold stocks worth over $336 million (net) during the week. Having said that, they accumulated select IT and financial services stocks owing to the positive quarterly earnings. 

Weekly Sectoral Performance 

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT index topped the charts with a weekly gain of 4.34%, followed by Nifty consumer durables index rising 3.11% and then Nifty Media gaining over 2.5% during the week. 

After a prolonged period of downfall, Nifty IT has been recovering on the back of positive quarterly earnings. 

The sectors which performed the worst during the week were Nifty Realty index long 2.12%, followed by Nifty Mid-Small Financial Services and Nifty Metal, both the indices losing 1.99% each during the week. 

Wrapping Up 

Indian markets displayed resilience during the week despite heightened geopolitical tensions, rising crude oil prices, and persistent FII outflows. Strong Q1 earnings from IT companies helped benchmark indices recover from early losses and close on a positive note. Looking ahead, the ongoing earnings season will remain the primary driver of stock-specific movements, while investors will also monitor crude oil prices, inflation trends, foreign fund flows, and global geopolitical developments to gauge the market’s