Thursday, 15 October 2026. The Nifty rose 374.65 points (1.66%) to 22,997.35, its biggest one-day gain since 12 June, on a day when South Korea's Kospi fell 7.6% after hotter-than-expected US inflation. Kotak Neo put the rise down to IT shares, softer oil and a stronger rupee. The Sensex did better still, up 2.11%. Four large stocks, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra, rose more than 3% each, while Nestle India fell 7.76% on the day of its results, and most smaller stocks fell.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 22,997.35 | +374.65 pts (+1.66%) |
| Sensex | 74,315.61 | +1,533.72 pts (+2.11%) |
| Bank Nifty | 55,810.50 | +494.50 pts (+0.89%) |
| Nifty Midcap 100 | 59,197.25 | −211.85 pts (−0.36%) |
| Nifty Smallcap 100 | 19,131.70 | −253.10 pts (−1.31%) |
| India VIX | 14.03 | −0.60 (−4.10%) |
Hot US inflation hit Asia; India went the other way
US consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September, against a forecast of 3.6% and 3.4% in August, The National reported. The paper said the figure raised the likelihood of another Federal Reserve rate rise and deepened a sell-off in AI and chip stocks; Outlook Money put Wednesday's fall in the Nasdaq at 1.88%.
Asia took the worst of it. The Associated Press reported the Kospi down 7.6% at 5,554.22 and Japan's Nikkei 225 down 4.9% at 64,425.95, with Taiwan's Taiex down 3.4%, Shanghai down 1.6% and the Hang Seng down 1.0%. The US 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.09% from 5.32%, according to AP.
HDFC Sky called the Nifty's 1.66% its best day in four months. On Kite's daily closes, the last bigger gain was on 12 June, when the index rose 461.30 points (1.99%).
The Nifty was at its low in the first fifteen minutes
The index opened at 22,671.30, 48.60 points above Wednesday's close, and made its low of the day, 22,637.40, in the first 15-minute candle. From there it climbed almost without a pause. It first traded above 23,000 in the 12:30 PM candle and reached the day's high of 23,056.40 in the 1:30 PM candle, a full range of 419.00 points.
The afternoon gave some of it back: by 3:00 PM the Nifty was at 22,938.85. It added 58.50 points in the last candle to close at 22,997.35, 59.05 points below the high and just short of 23,000. India VIX fell 4.10% to 14.03, after trading between 13.91 and 14.95. (What India VIX measures.)
Four heavyweights rose more than 3%
| Rose most | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Tech Mahindra | ₹1,650.00 | +4.75% |
| ICICI Bank | ₹1,389.40 | +3.80% |
| Reliance Industries | ₹1,215.00 | +3.44% |
| Bharti Airtel | ₹1,854.00 | +3.31% |
| HCLTech | ₹1,360.00 | +2.49% |
| Mahindra & Mahindra | ₹2,861.70 | +2.43% |
| Maruti Suzuki | ₹11,445.00 | +2.39% |
| HDFC Bank | ₹726.85 | +2.27% |
ICICI Bank rose ₹50.80, Reliance ₹40.40 and Bharti Airtel ₹59.40, and HDFC Bank added 2.27%. I found no company news behind the bank, Reliance or Bharti moves. Ravi Singh of Master Capital Services told Outlook Money the rebound looked like short covering after the recent correction.
Nifty IT gained 1.82% to 30,719.80. Infosys added 2.02%, TCS 1.96% and Wipro 1.83%. Tech Mahindra's 4.75% came before its results, which it announced at 5:36 PM, after the close (more below).
Financial Services and Auto were the other strong sectors, each up 1.67%. Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 2.26%, and Axis Bank, which reports on Saturday with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, rose 1.85%.
Nestle fell 7.76% on a quarter with profit up 36.3%
Nestle India reported its September-quarter results during Thursday's session. Business Today and Upstox reported net profit of ₹1,026.8 crore, up 36.3% from ₹753.2 crore, and sales of ₹6,782.2 crore, up 20.5%. Domestic sales grew 20.4%. Kotak Neo put EBITDA at ₹1,615 crore, up 31%, and the margin at 23.8%, 200 basis points higher than a year earlier.
The shares went the other way. They opened at ₹1,380, close to Wednesday's ₹1,383.20, fell to ₹1,327.50 (−4.03%) by 1:07 PM and reached a low of ₹1,260.50, down 8.87%, before closing at ₹1,275.80, down ₹107.40 or 7.76%. That took back all of Wednesday's 3.69% gain and more. Nearly 7.65 million shares traded on NSE, against 4.22 million on Wednesday.
Upstox reported that some numbers fell short of street estimates and that the chief executive, Manish Tiwary, said rising inflation, "particularly food inflation, is a reality". Nifty FMCG fell 1.06%. (Why a share can fall on good results, using Nestle as the example.)
Brent slipped below $105 and the rupee gained for a fifth day
Brent crude fell 1.5% to $104.40 a barrel, HDFC Sky reported, and WTI 1.2% to $93.90. Outlook Money linked the fall to reports that the Trump administration was considering sanctions relief for Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil tankers.
The rupee closed at 95.05 to the dollar on provisional figures, 12 paise stronger than Wednesday's 95.17, PTI reported. It traded between 94.86 and 95.11 and has gained 183 paise over five sessions. PTI credited softer crude, RBI intervention and a weaker dollar; the dollar index was at 101.96, down 0.57%.
Under the Nifty, most shares fell
| Nifty index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| IT | 30,719.80 | +1.82% |
| Auto | 25,576.40 | +1.67% |
| Financial Services | 25,364.20 | +1.67% |
| Realty | 828.70 | +0.72% |
| Pharma | 25,817.80 | +0.31% |
| Metal | 12,018.50 | +0.10% |
| Energy | 36,213.70 | −0.79% |
| FMCG | 44,791.65 | −1.06% |
| Media | 1,617.20 | −1.47% |
| PSU Bank | 8,041.20 | −1.55% |
Inside the Nifty, 42 stocks rose and 8 fell, counting from Kite's prices. Across BSE, though, 2,606 shares declined and 1,592 advanced, with 162 unchanged, according to HDFC Sky. PSU banks fell 1.55% even as private banks rose; SBI was the exception among the large ones, up 0.53%.
Besides Nestle, the Nifty's fallers were small moves: Adani Enterprises −0.83%, Trent −0.72%, Shriram Finance −0.65%, Bharat Electronics −0.51% and Larsen & Toubro −0.27%, with ONGC and Adani Ports slightly lower.
Prices here are the closing prices on my Kite quote after the session, which match the figures HDFC Sky and Upstox published. Kite's daily candle showed ₹1,282.50 for Nestle when I checked; I have used ₹1,275.80. (How the closing auction sets the close.)
Foreign selling on Wednesday, today's figures not out yet
On Wednesday, foreign institutions were net sellers of ₹1,857.40 crore in the cash market and domestic institutions net buyers of ₹2,670.40 crore, on NSE's provisional figures. Today's figures were not out when I checked at about 6:10 PM (NSE's page timed out and 5paisa still showed Wednesday); they will be in tomorrow's pre-market report. (How to read FII and DII data.)
Results after the bell, and the dates ahead
Tech Mahindra reported after the close. Upstox put consolidated net profit at ₹1,586 crore, up 8.2% from ₹1,465 crore in the June quarter and 33% from a year earlier, on revenue of ₹16,180 crore, up 3% on the quarter. The EBIT margin rose to 14.8% from 14.4%, and new deals were worth $1,023 million, up 25.4%. The board declared an interim dividend of ₹15 a share and recommended a 1:1 bonus issue, with 23 October as the record date. Wipro was scheduled to report after the close too, with a call at 7 PM.
- Friday, 16 October: Federal Bank, Bajaj Housing Finance and Oberoi Realty results; record date for the HCLTech dividend.
- Saturday, 17 October: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank results.
- Tuesday, 20 October: NSE trading holiday.
- Friday, 23 October: Infosys results; Tech Mahindra record date.
- Tuesday, 27 October: monthly expiry; the US Federal Reserve's two-day meeting starts, according to Outlook Money.
The results dates come from a list Upstox published on 11 October; companies sometimes move them.
Before Friday's open
- Today's FII and DII provisional figures.
- Wipro's results and the Tech Mahindra numbers in Friday's trade.
- Whether Asian markets steady after Thursday's falls, and Brent overnight.
- GIFT Nifty, which goes into tomorrow's pre-market report as it did in this morning's. Wednesday's session is in the 14 October report.
Sources
- Index, sector and stock prices, intraday path, Nestle's trading and India VIX: Zerodha Kite market data (NSE and BSE)
- Market close, top movers, breadth and Brent: HDFC Sky; reasons for the rise: Kotak Neo, Outlook Money
- US inflation: The National; Asian markets and Treasury yields: Associated Press
- Nestle India results: Business Today, Upstox, Kotak Neo
- Tech Mahindra results: Upstox; Wipro's results timing: NewsBytes
- Rupee and dollar index: HDFC Sky (PTI)
- Wednesday's FII and DII flows: NSE provisional data via 5paisa
- Results calendar: Upstox; holiday and expiry dates from the NSE holiday list and Outlook Money
This note summarises public news and data for information only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and I don't publish levels, targets or trade ideas. I am not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst.