Indian frontline indices opened lower on Friday due to heavyweights like ITC, HUL, Asian Paints and M&M falling the most.

At 9.58 a.m., Sensex was down 200 points or 0.25 per cent at 82,762 and Nifty was down 63 points or 0.25 per cent at 25,325.

The broader market trend remained bullish. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1697 shares were trading in the green and 598 shares in the red.

In early trading hours, Nifty midcap 100 index was up 363 points or 0.61 per cent at 60,003 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 128 points or 0.66 per cent at 19,482.

In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Wipro, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, SBI and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top gainers. Asian Paints, HUL, ITC, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki and UltraTech Cement were the top losers.

The controversial Assamese actress Sumi Borah and her husband Tarkik Borah were sent to five days of police custody and the investigating officers have been conducting marathon interrogation of the couple to unearth more details into the Rs 2,200 crore online trading scam, officials said on Friday.

Tarkik Borah is a photographer and his brother, Amlan Borah, was also arrested by the police from Bihar’s Muzaffarnagar district. He was sent to three days of police custody by the Court.

The actress was kept in custody under Dibrugarh police. She along with her husband surrendered before the police on Thursday morning.

Sumi Borah was closely connected to the kingpin of this huge online scam -- Bishal Phukan. Both Phukan and Borah are residents of Dibrugarh town.

As generative AI (GenAI) becomes popular across the spectrum, Sam Altman-run OpenAI has introduced a new ‘reasoning’ model which has been trained to answer more complex questions, faster than a human can.

According to the AI company, it trained ‘OpenAI o1 model’ to spend more time thinking through problems before they respond, much like a person would. Through training, they learn to refine their thinking process, try different strategies, and recognise their mistakes.

The new AI model can be used by healthcare researchers to annotate cell sequencing data, by physicists to generate complicated mathematical formulas needed for quantum optics, and by developers in all fields to build and execute multi-step workflows.

Former US President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has announced that he will not participate in another presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

In a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, Trump on Thursday claimed that he won the debate hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and accused Harris of refusing to accept debate invitations from Fox News, NBC News and CBS News.

In a post on social media platform X, Harris said on Thursday that "we owe it to the voters to have another debate."

The South Korean military has recently taken down more than 1,300 surveillance cameras installed at various bases, including those near the border with North Korea, after discovering they were Chinese-made equipment, a military official said Friday.

In late July, military and intelligence authorities found out the surveillance cameras supplied by a South Korean company were produced in China during military equipment examinations, news agency reported, citing the official.

The military has uninstalled all of the equipment in question and is replacing it with domestic equipment due to security concerns. Currently, about 100 of them have been newly installed.

The one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand has been called off without a ball being bowled after the fifth and final day of the match washed out due to continuous rain.

"It is still raining in Greater Noida and due to frequent rains, the 5th and final day of Afghanistan vs New Zealand test has been also called off by the match officials," Afghanistan Cricket said in a statement.

The city had witnessed relentless rains over the last week and the first two days were disrupted due to a damp outfield caused by poor drainage system at the ground. Then, rain intervened on the last three days to forc abandonment of the match with a ball bowled.

Gaming and sports media company Nazara Technologies on Friday said it has acquired 47.7 per cent stake in Moonshine Technology, the parent company of PokerBaazi, for Rs 832 crore through a secondary transaction. Additionally, Nazara will infuse Rs 150 crore in primary capital into Moonshine via compulsory convertible preference shares.

“This investment in Moonshine Technology represents a significant step in our journey to strengthen Nazara’s position as India’s dominant diversified gaming platform,” said Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies.

PokerBaazi has not only emerged as the undisputed leader in online poker gaming in India but has also set new standards in user engagement, innovation, and overall experience, he added.

At least 22,500 people, or a quarter of those injured in the Gaza conflict as of July 23, are suffering from life-changing injuries that will require long-term rehabilitation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported.

The report published o Thursday underscored the immense burden on Gaza's already crippled healthcare system, saying that severe limb injuries were the leading cause of rehabilitation needs. These limb injuries are estimated to affect between 13,455 and 17,550 individuals, news agency reported.

These injuries are compounded by some 4,000 amputations, and a sharp rise in cases of spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and severe burns, many of which involve women and children.

Former world No.1 Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Laver Cup in Berlin, the tournament announced.

In a tweet issued by the event on social media, Nadal said, “I’m really disappointed to share that I won’t be able to compete at the Laver Cup in Berlin next week.

"This is a team competition and to really support Team Europe, I need to do what’s best for them and at this moment there are other players who can help the team deliver the win.

"I have so many great, emotional memories from playing Laver Cup and I was really looking forward to being with my teammates and with Bjorn in his final year as Captain. I wish Team Europe the very best of luck and will be cheering them on from afar.”

In a breakthrough, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of Punjab Police on Friday said it has arrested a drug inspector from Mohali for facilitating smuggling operations connected to illegal pharmaceuticals, medical stores and laundering the money.

The accused was in touch with drug smugglers lodged inside the jail and facilitated their network outside, a post on X quoting Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

Serious financial irregularities have been observed, whereby ANTF identified and froze 24 bank accounts with Rs 7.09 crore. In addition to this, two bank lockers were seized, he said.

The ANTF recovered Rs 1.49 crore in cash, 260 gm of gold and foreign currency. Furthermore, substantial assets acquired through the proceeds of illegal activities were identified, including real estate valued at Rs 2.40 crore in Zirakpur and Dabwali towns.