India Stocks: Indian shares rise on peace deal hopes; Wipro, HDFC Life cap gains

HDFC Life Insurance

17/04/2026 06:07

Updates for morning trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

April 17 (Reuters) -
Indian shares rose on Friday ahead of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, with oil prices pinned below $100 per barrel, though losses in Wipro and HDFC Life Insurance following weak quarterly results capped further gains.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI was up 0.34% at 24,279 and the Sensex .BSESN added 0.38% to 78,290.04 as of 10:33 a.m. IST.

Both benchmarks are up about 1% so far this week, following gains of about 6% last week - their strongest weekly performance in five years.

Fourteen of 16 major sectors advanced. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added 1% each.

The IT index .NIFTYIT fell 0.2%, dragged by a 3% drop in Wipro WIPR.NS after it posted lackluster quarterly results and forecast muted demand for the first quarter, citing spending curbs by its U.S. banking and financial clients.

HDFC Life HDFL.NS shed 3.2% after posting a fall in quarterly new business value on Thursday, even as it reported a marginal rise in profit.

The stocks were the top percentage losers on the Nifty 50.

Other Asian markets, excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS, slipped 0.9%, but were set for weekly gains ahead of renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks over the weekend that could pave the way for an end to the war. MKTS/GLOB

In response, Brent crude LCOc1 traded below $100 per barrel for the ninth session. Easing oil prices are a positive for India, the world's third-largest oil importer.

"While investor sentiment improved this week ahead of the U.S.-Iran talks over the weekend, a period of consolidation is likely (in Indian stocks) after the swift upward move in benchmarks earlier this week," Bajaj Broking said in a note.

        Analysts expect the Nifty 50 to trade between 23,400 and 24,400 points in the next few sessions, as investors analyse the outcome of the talks and earnings from heavyweight private lenders HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, due on Saturday.

 (Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

 ((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))