Mumbai, Sep 12: The Indian equity indices ended the week on a positive note on Friday, maintaining the winning streak for the eight consecutive trading sessions despite geo-political uncertainties.

Optimism over a potential rate cut by the US Fed, positive developments in India-US trade talks and buying in defence stocks fueled the market sentiment.

Sensex settled the session at 81,904.70, up 355.97 points or 0.44 per cent. The 30-share index started trading with a decent gap-up at 81,758.95 against last day’s closing of 81,548.73. The index extended the momentum further amid positive global cues to hit an intraday high at 81,992.85.

Nifty closed at 25,114.0, up 108.50 points or 0.43 per cent.

The national market closed at a three-week high, supported by renewed global optimism over a potential Fed rate cut. Sentiments improved further on reports that the EU may reject U.S. tariff proposals on India for buying Russian oil, analysts said.

Progress in the US-India trade talks is also expected to keep the positive momentum intact in the near term. The defence sector outperformed, aided by the Indian procurement authorities beginning negotiations for six next-generation conventional submarines, analysts added.

BEL, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, Axis Bank, Maruti, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, L&T, Infosys, and PowerGrid were the top gainers from the Sensex basket. Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, Trent, Asian Paint, Bharati Airtel and ITC settled lower.

The majority of sectoral indices settled higher. Nifty Fin Services jumped 184 points or 0.70 per cent, Nifty Bank escalated 139 points or 0.26 per cent, Nifty Auto increased 122 points or 0.46 per cent, and Nifty IT settled the session 107 points or 0.3 per cent. Nifty FMCG fell.

Broader indices followed suit as well. Nifty Smallcap 100 moved 114 points or 0.64 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 183 points or 0.32 per cent, and Nifty 100 closed 106 points or 0.41 per cent.

Rupee traded positively with gains of 0.18 per cent at 88.27 as mixed FII inflows supported sentiment.

“The dollar index remained weak below 98, providing additional strength to the rupee, while ongoing trade deal talks with the US also added optimism. Weakness in crude prices offered further minor support,” said Jateen Trivedi f LKP Securities.

Overall, the rupee looks set to gain some lost ground with scope to test 87.75 in the coming days, while 88.50 is seen as a reversal resistance zone, he added.

New Delhi, Sep 12: India and Iceland are set to enhance collaboration in fisheries and aquaculture, emphasising sustainable practices, zero-waste models, technology transfer and cluster-based development, the government said on Friday.

An Indian delegation, led by Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of the Department of Fisheries, completed a three-day official visit in Iceland’s Reykjavík to strengthen bilateral cooperation through strategic partnerships, investment promotion, and innovation exchange, an official statement said.

Likhi met with senior representatives of the Iceland Ocean Cluster and discussed cooperative innovation in fish processing, value addition, traceability, and certification. BRIM and Hampiðjan, leading Icelandic companies, provided insights into their advanced zero-waste models and cutting-edge processing technologies.

“Both sides explored investment opportunities for the Icelandic seafood processing industry in India, along with ways to deepen business-to-business (B2B) linkages,” the statement said.

The delegation also visited MATIS, Iceland’s top food and biotech R&D institute, to discuss cooperation in biotechnology, food safety, and marine resource utilisation. The visit opened new avenues for collaboration in research and technology transfer to bolster India’s fisheries value chain, the release added.

Emphasis was also laid on training and capacity building in deep-sea fishing technologies, alongside the adoption of advanced vessel monitoring and surveillance (VMS) systems, the ministry of Fisheries said.

The two sides explored opportunities in deep-sea fishing technologies, vessel monitoring systems, trout farming, and tuna innovations for India’s islands.

The government has adopted a cluster-based development model under the PMMSY, with 34 clusters notified so far. The cluster-based approach enhances competitiveness and efficiency by uniting geographically connected enterprises of all sizes – micro, small, medium, and large-across the entire value chain, from production to exports.

The country’s total fish production has grown by 104 per cent from 96 lakh tonnes in 2013–14 to 195 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, as inland fisheries expanded by 142 per cent for the same period from 61 lakh tonnes to 147.37 lakh tonnes, according to government data.

India stands as the second largest fish producing nation in the world, contributing around 8 per cent of global output.

Mumbai, Sep 12: The Indian benchmark indices opened with mild gains on Friday on the back of strong global cues, driven by growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut next week.

As of 9.25 am, Sensex was up 114 points or 0.14 per cent at 81,663, and Nifty was up 39 points or 0.16 per cent at 25,045.

The broadcap indices outperformed benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.43 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 moved up 0.36 per cent.

Adani Enterprises, Infosys, TCS, NTPC and Axis Bank were among major gainers on Nifty, while losers were Bajaj Finserv, Titan Company and Tata Consumer Products.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, the top gainer, jumped 1.01 per cent. Nifty IT (up 0.74 per cent) and Nifty Metal (up 0.59 per cent) were the other major gainers. Nifty FMCG was the top loser down 0.62 per cent.

Adding to the investor optimism, US President Donald Trump has reportedly invited Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for a meeting with the US Trade Representative to discuss a potential trade deal — a development that could ease tensions between the two countries.

Nifty on Thursday managed to surpass the 25,000 hurdle and continued its upward journey for the seventh day in a row to close at its highest levels since 21 August. Nifty finally managed to close above the downward sloping trend line resistance on the daily chart

Analysts said that the short-term trend of the Nifty remains bullish as it has been holding above 5, 20 and 50 DMAs. Immediate resistance for Nifty is seen at 25153, derived from the previous swing high.

US markets surged to fresh records overnight as jobless claims spiked to a four-year high of 263,000, cementing expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts despite August inflation accelerating to 2.9 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.36 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced by 0.72 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.85 per cent.

Markets now price in a 94.8 per cent probability of a quarter-point Fed cut next week, with only 5.2 per cent odds of a half-point reduction.

Most of the Asian markets made strong gains during the morning session. While China’s Shanghai index advanced 0.24 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.15 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.91 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 1.42 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 1.15 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 3,472 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,046 crore.