The Indian benchmark indices closed at their highest levels since February 26, 2025, with the BSE Sensex ending 0.95% or 772.75 points higher at 81,879.40 and the Nifty 50 closing at 25,255.05, up 210.40 points or 0.84%. According to The Economic Times, both gauges reached their highest levels since February 6, 2025 - a day before the start of the Iran war. The Sensex jumped over 1,300 points to trade above 82,400 level, while the Nifty 50 surged over 1% to hover around 25,400, though indices later pared some gains to trade off-day's high levels. The Sensex had opened at 82,248.68 and touched an intraday high of 82,520.40 before slipping to a low of 81,417.39, while the Nifty 50 opened at 25,337.80 and touched a high of 25,424.35 during the session before falling to an intraday low of 25,095.35. Broader markets showed greater resilience, as the Nifty Smallcap 100 surged 1.67% and the Nifty Midcap 100 index gained 0.6%, with small-cap stocks outperforming the benchmark indices.
Among individual stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising 5.3%, followed by InterGlobe Aviation (parent of IndiGo) which advanced 4.3% and Trent climbing 3.3%. Tata Steel gained 2.22% and ITC rose 2.15%, while Axis Bank advanced 2.14% and Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel added 2.04% and 2.03% respectively. Power Grid Corporation gained 1.92%, State Bank of India rose 1.80% and Asian Paints advanced 1.76%. Kotak Mahindra Bank was up 1.67%, HDFC Bank gained 1.58%, UltraTech Cement rose 1.42%, Hindustan Unilever gained 1.41% and Bajaj Finserv advanced 1.15%. Bharat Electronics climbed 1.09%, while Bajaj Finance added 0.94%. The Nifty Bank sector led the gains, ending over 1.7% higher, driven by significant buying interest in PSU Bank and Auto stocks, with Nifty PSU Bank index rising 3% and Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank indices advancing nearly 2% each.
The rally was primarily driven by heavyweight stocks in the banking and auto sectors amid a recent easing in crude oil prices, as reported by The Economic Times. Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil & Gas gained around 1% each, while Nifty IT declined 0.5%, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty fell 0.4% each. Foreign investors purchased nearly $7 billion worth of Indian equities during this period, contributing significantly to the market's upward momentum. Sunny Agrawal, head of research at SBI Securities, noted that short-covering had contributed significantly to the recent rally, with short positions, which were earlier close to three lakh contracts, declining to around 90,000 contracts. According to Utsav Verma, head of research at Choice, some profit booking was expected after the sharp market rally, particularly in the absence of fresh triggers, as most of the major catalysts are now behind us - the US elections are over, crude oil prices have eased and most of the corporate results have been announced.
Several companies reported their Q2 FY26 results with mixed performance across sectors. Tata Power delivered strong results with revenue up 26.3% at ₹19,636 crore versus ₹15,545 crore YoY, while net profit surged 48.6% to ₹1,366 crore versus ₹919 crore YoY, aided by a one-time gain of ₹119 crore. However, DCX Systems faced challenges with revenue declining 27.5% to ₹140 crore compared to ₹193 crore YoY, though the company managed to reduce its EBITDA loss to ₹1.1 crore from ₹12.5 crore YoY. Cupid showed impressive growth with net profit jumping to ₹56.2 crore from ₹24.1 crore YoY and revenue increasing to ₹188 crore from ₹84.4 crore YoY. According to Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, the near 24% earnings growth in Nifty 50 in Q2 is a 12-quarter high and has compressed the forward PE for Nifty 50 to fair levels.
Several companies announced significant corporate actions and business developments. Tata Power approved a substantial ₹11,871 crore investment in additional capacity and appointed Sanjay Banga as MD & CEO effective May 1, 2027. Bajaj Finance opened its QIP issue with a floor price set at ₹992.25 per share, while Aegis Logistics also launched its QIP issue at ₹1,161.85 per share. Sandur Manganese & Iron received environmental clearance to enhance its iron ore RoM capacity from 7.85 MTPA to 9.42 MTPA, and Vintage Coffee board allotted 39 lakh warrants to promoter group at ₹164 each. In November so far, the domestic benchmark indices have rallied over 8%, supported by robust FPI inflows worth more than ₹53,100 crore and better-than-expected Q2 results. Asian equities advanced for a third consecutive session, supported by gains in technology stocks.
Looking ahead to November 12 trading, according to NDTV Profit, the market faces potential resistance at the 25,500 level for Nifty, with the index currently in an overbought zone that could trigger a pullback. The benchmarks retained their gains for the day despite initial buying momentum weakening due to selling in select heavyweight stocks, particularly IT and pharma companies. The positive momentum from Wednesday's session, led by PSU Bank and Auto stocks, suggests continued investor interest in these sectors, though market participants will be watching for any profit-taking activity near key resistance levels. Given the new favourable environment for the Indian market, FIIs are likely to continue buying, imparting resilience to the frontline stocks in banking/financials, telecom, capital goods, select auto and pharmaceutical majors, as noted by Dr. V K Vijayakumar. Global factors also support the rally, with Asian markets trading mostly higher and easing US-Iran tensions leading to a sharp decline in crude oil prices, with Brent oil trading below $93 a barrel.
