Sensex Closes Marginally Down

India’s BSE Sensex shed nearly 20 points to settle at 74,295 on Friday, tracking cautious global sentiment after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate hike in more than three years and signalled further increases this year. This raised concerns over foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows, while geopolitical tensions remained elevated. At the same time, ongoing strong IPO activity continued to put pressure on the market. Tata Group stocks led losses, with TCS, Titan and Tata Steel falling between 1.7% and 4.3%, amid fresh uncertainty about the conglomerate's control structure and leadership. The trigger was an escalation in the disagreement over the leadership and future structure of Tata Sons, the unlisted holding company at the centre of the Tata Group. On the flip side, Adani Ports outperformed, climbing 3.8%, after global brokerage Jefferies highlighted multiple growth drivers across the group’s infrastructure and energy businesses.