Sensex Soars Over 500 Points, Nifty Reclaims 24,650 as Market Rally Extends to Seventh Day; Mid- and Small-Caps Under Pressure

Sensex Surges Over 500 Points, Nifty Crosses 24,650 as Market Rally Extends to Seventh Session; Broader Markets Lag

Indian equity benchmarks continued their upward momentum on Friday, November 6, with the Sensex rising more than 500 points and the Nifty moving above 24,650 in early trade. Strong buying in heavyweight information technology, automobile and banking stocks supported the recovery, although midcap and smallcap shares remained under pressure.

The domestic market staged a strong comeback after opening lower, showing resilience despite a sharp overnight decline on Wall Street and losses across major Asian markets. Selective buying in large-cap stocks, particularly IT counters, helped the benchmark indices recover their early losses.

At 9:56 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 79,853.13, up 543.12 points or 0.68%. After opening at 79,413.66, the index initially slipped to 79,016.05 before recovering to an intraday high of 79,959.48.

The NSE Nifty 50 stood at 24,661.90, gaining 125.30 points or 0.51% against its previous close of 24,536.60. It touched an early high of 24,673.55.

IT Stocks Drive Benchmark Gains

Information technology shares led the market recovery, with the Nifty IT index advancing 1.56%. Buying in major technology companies provided significant support to the frontline indices.

Among Sensex constituents, Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the top performer, rising 5.27%. Titan gained 2.86%, while TCS advanced 1.92%, Infosys climbed 1.82% and HCL Technologies added 1.63%.

ICICI Bank rose 1.38%, Bharti Airtel gained 1.28%, Sun Pharma advanced 1.18% and ITC moved up 1.08%. Tech Mahindra also registered a gain of 1.02%.

Sectorally, the Nifty Auto index advanced 0.61%, while the Nifty Private Bank index gained 0.75%. Pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks also traded in positive territory.

However, some heavyweight stocks remained under pressure. Power Grid declined 2.24%, Asian Paints dropped 1.28%, BEL lost 1.15% and Tata Steel slipped 0.96%.

Midcap and Smallcap Shares Continue to Decline

The recovery in benchmark indices did not extend to the broader market, where selling pressure persisted across midcap and smallcap stocks.

The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.76%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 1.38%. The Nifty Midcap 50 and Nifty Smallcap 50 also dropped 0.60% and 1.30%, respectively.

The Nifty Next 50 was down 0.84%, while the Nifty 500 slipped 0.11%.

The contrasting performance indicates that investors are continuing to book profits in smaller stocks, even as buying interest remains concentrated in select large-cap companies.

India VIX Climbs 7.5%, Signalling Market Caution

The India VIX, which measures expected market volatility, jumped 7.5% to 16.75 during the session.

The sharp rise in the volatility index, despite gains in the Sensex and Nifty, suggests that market participants remain cautious amid uncertainty in global markets and the possibility of further fluctuations in stock prices.

Global Sell-Off Weighs on Investor Sentiment

The domestic market’s recovery came despite heavy selling in US equities on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.5%, while the S&P 500 declined 4.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.4%.

Technology and artificial intelligence-linked stocks faced substantial selling pressure, raising concerns over elevated valuations and the sustainability of the global AI-driven rally.

Asian markets also opened under pressure on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi witnessing significant declines. The weakness in global technology shares remained a key concern for investors.

Record FII Buying Offers Support to Indian Equities

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) provided a major boost to domestic market sentiment on Thursday by purchasing shares worth nearly Rs 15,000 crore.

The buying marked their strongest single-day net investment in more than a year and coincided with a strong recovery in Indian equities.

The return of substantial foreign institutional buying has improved sentiment, although global market weakness and continued selling in midcap and smallcap stocks indicate that the recovery remains selective.

Can the Six-Day Market Rally Continue?

Indian benchmark indices entered Friday’s trading session after recording gains for six consecutive sessions. During this period, the Sensex and Nifty had advanced by more than 8%.

The latest gains suggest that buying interest remains strong in selected heavyweight stocks, particularly across the IT, banking and automobile sectors.

However, the continued weakness in broader-market shares and the 7.5% surge in India VIX highlight the cautious approach adopted by investors.

While frontline indices are extending their winning momentum, the divergence between large-cap and broader-market performance suggests that market participation remains uneven.