The Indian stock market extended gains on Friday, although Middle East uncertainties capped gains for the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty, which closed only marginally higher. Sensex gained over 3 points to close at around 77,541 while Nifty 50 rose 20 points to end the session at 24,252.

Here's how analysts read the market pulseThe Indian stock market was largely restricted within range today, with the Sensex and Nifty moving modestly higher, reflecting a balancing act of positive domestic factors versus continued global uncertainties, said Vikram Kasat, Chief Business Officer, Advisory and Dealing at PL Capital. He noted that the positive trend was driven by buying interest in select stocks, with IT stocks under pressure due to cautious investor sentiment globally.

High crude prices, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, and problems in the international bond market have been affecting risk-taking tendencies. “Moving ahead, the markets will continue to be highly volatile and stock-specific, with crude prices, foreign fund inflows, rupee movement, and international trends being some of the key factors,” according to the analyst.

S. business activity supported sentiment.

46. Despite Friday's rebound, all three indices ended the week lower.

European marketsEuropean markets also ended higher on Friday as resilient economic data and corporate earnings helped offset concerns over elevated oil prices and bond yields. 18.

Tech viewNifty remained range-bound during the day, with the index confined between the 20 EMA and 50 EMA on the hourly chart, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. “The RSI remains in a bearish cross over.

Overall, sentiment remains sideways to mildly positive. On the lower end, support is placed at 24,200.

A fall below 24,200 might trigger a correction towards 24,000. On the higher end, resistance is placed at 24,350; a rise above this level might take the index towards 24,500,” he explained.

Most active stocks in terms of turnoverWelspun Corp (Rs 4,537 crore), Netweb Technologies (Rs 2,374 crore), BSE (Rs 2,154 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,901 crore), Balrampur Chini (Rs 1,473 crore), Himadri Speciality (Rs 1,167 crore) and Data Patterns (Rs 1,129 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.