Indian Stocks Hold Firm Despite Middle East Conflict as Lenders Post Strong Earnings

Indian equities held roughly steady even as the conflict in the Middle East unsettled global markets, though they surrendered an early advance. The Sensex rose about 200 points intraday, with the Nifty trading above 24,100, the Economic Times reported, before both benchmarks pared those gains. The Sensex settled nearly flat at 77,186.87 and the Nifty ended 5.75 points, or 0.02%, lower at 24,072.75, the Business Standard reported. Information-technology shares rose while some bank stocks fell, and the rupee held steady.

Earnings supported the session. HDB Financial Services shares rose about 5% after quarterly profit climbed 38%, with net interest income, the gap between what a lender earns on loans and pays on deposits, up 20%. Analysts at Nomura and Motilal Oswal kept neutral ratings, citing steady rather than accelerating growth.

Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent of the brokerage Groww, gained about 9% over two sessions after reporting a 94% year-on-year rise in quarterly net profit to 735 crore rupees and a 66% rise in revenue to 1,504 crore rupees.