Key gauges end higher for 2nd straight day led by IT stocks

Indian equity benchmarks extended their upward momentum for the second consecutive session on Friday, driven by strong buying in IT stocks following robust quarterly earnings. Positive global trends, softer crude oil prices, and a strengthening rupee also supported market sentiment. However, continued foreign investor selling capped the upside. 

Both Sensex and Nifty ended with gains of over half percent, with IT stocks led the gains amid sustained earnings-driven momentum. Among individual stocks, Tech Mahindra was the top gainer on both the indices after reporting strong Q2FY27 results. TECK and Telecom stocks also contributed to the positive sentiment. However, weakness in select FMCG, realty and energy heavyweights capped the upside. 

Some of the important factors in trade: 

India's retail inflation may top 6%, wholesale inflation 12% in October: India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that India's wholesale and retail inflation possibly will accelerate to over 12 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, in October due to an adverse base effect, unfavourable weather conditions and an energy price shock.

India's merchandise exports jump 23% in September: The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose by 23.05 per cent to $44.40 billion in September 2026 as compared to $36.08 billion in September 2025, driven by healthy growth in shipments of petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals.

India's current account deficit narrowed to $5.2 billion in August: RBI data showed that India's current account deficit narrowed to $5.2 billion in August from $6.1 billion a year ago, aided by a lower merchandise trade deficit and higher surpluses in services trade.

Unemployment rate in India holds steady at 5% in September: The National Statistics Office's (NSO) Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data showed that the overall unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above remained stable at 5 per cent in September 2026 as compared with August 2026. 

Global front: European markets were trading higher on the back of solid earnings and softening global bond yields. Asian markets settled mostly higher as tech shares bounced back following Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's comments at the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok that artificial intelligence is a major force in the global economy. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 413.66 points or 0.56% to 74,729.27 and the CNX Nifty was up by 148.80 points or 0.65% to 23,146.15.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,778.78 and 74,012.99, respectively. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.38%, TECK up by 3.28%, Telecom up by 1.56%, Metal up by 0.78% and Auto up by 0.77%, while Energy down by 0.64%, Consumer Durables down by 0.62%, FMCG down by 0.44%, Oil & Gas down by 0.39% and Realty down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 8.45%, TCS up by 4.61%, Infosys up by 4.55%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.86% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.23%, Reliance Industries down by 1.09%, Asian Paints down by 1.00%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.71% and ITC down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, citing youthful population, demographic dividend, large domestic market and entrepreneurial drive as key drivers of sustained growth, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that India would remain among the fastest-growing large economies over the next 20-25 years. He noted that Indian professionals are contributing to global businesses, technological development and scientific research, reflecting the growing role of India in shaping the global economic and technology landscape.

At the inauguration of the SRCC Centenary Conclave on ‘Pathways to Viksit Bharat’, he emphasized that investments in manufacturing, technology adoption and skill development would create opportunities for India’s youth and strengthen the country’s position in the global economy. He said that countries are increasingly being assessed as manufacturing and investment destinations on the basis of political stability, resilient supply chains and fair and transparent trading practices. He noted that India has an opportunity to attract investments, expand manufacturing and adopt new technologies, including in northern and northeastern India, to generate employment and support economic growth.

Goyal called upon young people to prepare for the changing employment landscape by developing skills in AI, cybersecurity and the practical application of emerging technologies. He said that large language models and other AI systems would need to be developed into practical tools that businesses and ordinary citizens could use. Drawing a parallel with India’s growth in the information technology sector during the 1990s and 2000s, he urged the youth to take a leading role in developing and applying new technologies rather than limiting themselves to their adoption.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 23,149.85 and 22,913.80, respectively. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 8.48%, TCS up by 4.89%, Infosys up by 4.61%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.75% and HCL Technologies up by 2.37%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.91%, BSE down by 1.90%, Max Healthcare down by 1.40%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.27% and JIO Financial Services down by 1.26% were the top losers.  

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.08 points or 0.09% to 10,850.43, France’s CAC rose 31.5 points or 0.4% to 7,966.20 and Germany’s DAX gained 278.88 points or 1.1% to 25,661.50.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday following Wall Street’s overnight gains, despite the hotter-than-expected US Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Market sentiment improved further as technology shares rebounded after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh stated at the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok that artificial intelligence is a major force in the global economy. However, Indonesia's Jakarta index crashed more than 13%, marking its steepest one-day decline since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. The sell-off followed an announcement by global index provider MSCI that the country was no longer worthy of ‘emerging market’ status, threatening billions of dollars in capital outflows from Southeast Asia's largest ‌economy.