Post Session: Quick Review

Despite volatility during the morning session, Indian equity markets ended higher on Monday, with both the Sensex and Nifty snapping their four-day losing streak as fresh buying and short covering in select heavyweight stocks supported a broad-based recovery across sectors. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers, further boosted investor sentiment. However, market participants remained cautious ahead of key monetary policy decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday, the European Central Bank on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan on Friday.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Strong macroeconomic fundamentals, policy interventions help cushion India against global headwinds: Traders took support with the RBI Bulletin stating that strong macroeconomic fundamentals and targeted policy interventions continue to anchor the economy against global headwinds, including rising inflation due to the West Asia crisis and ongoing trade tensions. 

India has potential to increase share in global merchandise exports from around 2% to 15-20%: The street took a note of Department of Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal’s statement that India has potential to increase its share in global merchandise exports from around 2% to 15-20%, stressing the need to leverage the country’s competitive advantages.

FIIs turns net buyers: Some support also came as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on Friday, purchasing equities worth Rs 887.65 crore.  

On the global front: European stocks were trading higher as oil prices eased, while investors turned their attention to a series of major central bank policy announcements, including the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later in the week. Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday.

The BSE Sensex ended at 73606.75, up by 482.92 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 72514.57 and 73606.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.55%, Telecom up by 2.07%, Healthcare up by 1.85%, Oil & Gas up by 1.59% and Energy up by 1.49%, while there were no losing sectoral indices. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.43%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 2.00%, Trent up by 1.58% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.76%, HDFC Bank down by 0.66%, HCL Technologies down by 0.52% and Maruti Suzuki India down by 0.31% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, external Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Uzbek counterpart, Bakhtiyor Saidov, discussed key issues on the bilateral agenda during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, and emphasised the need for the timely implementation of agreements reached at the highest level. Jaishankar was in Azerbaijan on October 23, 2026, for a day-long visit to review bilateral ties. During the visit, he met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and held talks with Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on trade, investment, energy, tourism and connectivity.

Describing his discussions as “very productive”, Jaishankar said they had helped chart a way forward for bilateral ties. The two sides explored ways to expand economic cooperation, particularly in trade, investment and energy, and agreed to strengthen coordination on connectivity. Both countries are stakeholders in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal freight network spanning approximately 7,200 km that connects India with Iran, the Caspian region, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. 

Jaishankar stressed the importance of closer coordination on the project, particularly in an increasingly interconnected global economy. The discussions also covered air connectivity, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Jaishankar thanked Azerbaijan for its assistance in evacuating Indian nationals, particularly students, from Iran during the regional conflict earlier this year. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 22753.20, up by 153.20 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 22387.35 and 22753.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 6.62%, JSW Steel up by 6.28%, BSE up by 3.97%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 2.92% and Eternal up by 2.57%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 4.62%, Tata Consumer Products down by 2.84%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.10%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.91% and HDFC Bank down by 0.69% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; Germany’s DAX gained 263.45 points or 1.05% to 25,445.10, France’s CAC rose 66.68 points or 0.86% to 7,849.50 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 53.93 points or 0.5% to 10,744.29. 

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s fall last Friday and as investors awaited a crucial week packed with high-profile corporate tech earnings and monetary policy decisions from major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank. Besides, renewed tensions in the Middle East weighed on market sentiment. South Korea’s Kospi fell sharply after private brokerages slashed 12-month target for the benchmark index from 12,000 to 9,000 (a 25% reduction), citing more conservative valuation assumptions as the AI-driven tech rally cools. However, Chinese shares gained, recovering from an earlier dip driven by anxieties surrounding weakening domestic consumption and growth. Investors also shifted their focus on the Fifth Plenum, running from Monday through Thursday, during which President Xi Jinping opened the meeting and called for firm governance measures. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese stock market was closed in observance of Taiwan Restoration Day.