Monday, 26 October 2026. The Nifty rose 153.20 points (0.68%) to 22,753.20, ending a run of four losing sessions, in what Upstox called a short-covering rally led by Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Eternal. It got there the hard way: the index was down 212.65 points within the first 15 minutes and closed on its high of the day. Dr Reddy's and JSW Steel, both of which reported results on Friday, were the Nifty 50's biggest gainers, each up more than 6%.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 22,753.20 | +153.20 pts (+0.68%) |
| Sensex | 73,606.75 | +482.92 pts (+0.66%) |
| Bank Nifty | 54,366.70 | +79.35 pts (+0.15%) |
| Nifty Midcap 100 | 56,465.40 | +664.75 pts (+1.19%) |
| Nifty Smallcap 100 | 17,985.00 | +245.55 pts (+1.38%) |
| India VIX | 17.16 | +0.30 (+1.78%) |
From 0.94% down to the day's high
The Nifty opened at 22,524.40, 75.60 points (0.33%) under Friday's close, and kept falling to 22,387.35 inside the first candle, 0.94% below Friday. The turn came in the 9:45 candle, which ran from 22,462.20 to 22,636.45, a gain of 174.25 points in 15 minutes. By 10:00 the index had touched 22,706.15.
The middle of the day gave some of it back, down to 22,523.60 in the 11:30 candle, before a steady afternoon. The last 15 minutes added 36.15 points from 22,717.05, and the close of 22,753.20 was both the day's high and 365.85 points above its low. The Sensex followed the same path, ending at 73,606.75, its own high for the day, 1,092.18 points above its low. The Nifty is still 392.95 points under its close of 23,146.15 on Friday 16 October.
Smaller companies did better than the index after last week's selling. The Midcap 100 rose 1.19% and the Smallcap 100 1.38%; on the NSE 2,063 shares rose and 1,525 fell. India VIX still edged up, to 17.16, after moving between 16.86 and 18.00 (what the VIX measures).
Dr Reddy's and JSW Steel rose more than 6% after Friday's results
Both companies published September-quarter results on Friday, 23 October; Kotak Neo's report on the Dr Reddy's numbers went up at 8:25 PM that evening.
Dr Reddy's rose 6.62% to ₹1,310.90, though it first slipped to ₹1,224, below Friday's ₹1,229.50. The quarter itself was weaker than a year ago: consolidated revenue fell 1.5% to ₹8,671 crore (it rose 7.4% from the June quarter), EBITDA was ₹1,783 crore and net profit ₹925 crore, according to Kotak Neo and the company's results release as summarised by Investywise. The company put the decline down to lower lenalidomide sales in North America. Reports disagree on how far profit fell from a year earlier, because they use different year-ago figures, so I have left that percentage out. Upstox described the rise only as buying interest despite the decline (why prices and results can point different ways). Nifty Pharma gained 1.76%, with Cipla up 1.27% and Sun Pharma down 0.46%.
JSW Steel rose 6.28% to ₹1,260, its high for the day, from an open of ₹1,195.50. Consolidated profit after tax was ₹5,279 crore against ₹1,623 crore a year earlier, and revenue rose 21% to ₹54,486 crore from ₹45,152 crore, APAC News Network and Whalesbook reported. EBITDA was ₹10,120 crore. Crude steel output of 7.07 million tonnes and sales of 7.27 million tonnes were both quarterly records, sales up 14% from a year ago. The rest of the metal pack moved with it: Nifty Metal gained 2.21%, the most of the ten sector indices in the table below, with Coal India up 1.90%, Hindalco 1.82% and Tata Steel 1.35%.
| Rose most in the Nifty 50 | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Reddy's Laboratories | ₹1,310.90 | +6.62% |
| JSW Steel | ₹1,260.00 | +6.28% |
| Adani Ports | ₹1,752.50 | +2.92% |
| Eternal | ₹325.55 | +2.57% |
| Max Healthcare | ₹835.00 | +2.45% |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | ₹440.75 | +2.38% |
Infosys went from 4.06% down to 1.06% up
Infosys traded for the first time on its September-quarter numbers and the narrower full-year revenue guidance it gave on Friday (the details are in this morning's pre-market report). It opened at ₹1,115, 3.36% below Friday's ₹1,153.80, and fell as far as ₹1,107, down 4.06%. Like the Nifty, it finished at its high, ₹1,166, up 1.06%. I found no report that explained the recovery. Nifty IT closed 0.87% higher; TCS added 0.20%, Tech Mahindra 0.28%, while HCLTech slipped 0.37% and Wipro 0.34%.
Shriram Finance's second day after results
Shriram Finance was the weakest stock in the Nifty 50 for a second day, after a 3.98% fall on Friday, the day its board approved the results. It closed 4.62% lower at ₹825 from Friday's ₹865 after touching ₹810.20, a fall of 6.34%. Upstox's list of the day's movers put the fall down to asset quality and elevated credit costs rather than profit. Gross NPA was 4.65%, against 4.64% in the June quarter, and net NPA 2.31%. Management said elevated credit costs could continue for another quarter or two, which Upstox linked to stress among farm borrowers after deficient rains, and it guided FY27 growth in assets under management at 15-17%.
Bajaj Finance fell 1.10% and HDFC Life 0.91% on the same day. Tata Consumer Products lost 2.84% to ₹936.50; I could not find a report giving a reason.
| Fell most in the Nifty 50 | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Shriram Finance | ₹825.00 | −4.62% |
| Tata Consumer Products | ₹936.50 | −2.84% |
| Bajaj Finance | ₹918.70 | −1.10% |
| HDFC Life | ₹519.00 | −0.91% |
| HDFC Bank | ₹688.05 | −0.69% |
In all, 36 Nifty 50 stocks rose and 14 fell.
Metal led, Media fell
| Nifty index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | 11,731.55 | +2.21% |
| Pharma | 25,774.25 | +1.76% |
| Energy | 35,022.35 | +1.46% |
| IT | 32,273.05 | +0.87% |
| Realty | 789.70 | +0.68% |
| Auto | 24,970.75 | +0.44% |
| PSU Bank | 8,093.80 | +0.29% |
| FMCG | 42,800.75 | +0.28% |
| Financial Services | 24,454.35 | +0.21% |
| Media | 1,558.10 | −0.34% |
Upstox counted 13 of 15 sector indices higher. Bank Nifty rose only 0.15%, with HDFC Bank down 0.69% to ₹688.05; Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 2.38%, ICICI Bank 0.63%, SBI 0.23% and Axis Bank 0.21%. Reliance Industries gained 0.99% to ₹1,201.80.
Brent eased to $115.08
Brent was $115.08 a barrel this evening, down $1.64 (1.41%), Trading Economics showed, having gone above $116 in Friday's US session, the Associated Press reported. Trading Economics linked the fall to renewed diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran, with security officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey preparing to meet Iranian leaders. Nifty Energy rose 1.46%.
Flows, expiry and the Jio listing
Today's provisional FII and DII figures were not published when I checked this evening. On Friday foreign institutions bought a net ₹887.60 crore in the cash market and domestic institutions ₹3,235.40 crore, NSE's provisional data showed (how to read FII and DII data).
- Tuesday, 27 October: monthly F&O expiry; the US Federal Reserve's two-day meeting begins; Jio Platforms shares due in allottees' demat accounts.
- Wednesday, 28 October: Jio Platforms' expected listing.
- Tuesday, 10 November: next NSE trading holiday.
Before tomorrow's open I'll be looking for today's flow figures, Brent and any word from the Iran talks, and India VIX into expiry. Friday's fall, with the Infosys and Shriram results, is in the post-market report for 23 October.
Sources
- Index, sector and stock prices, the intraday path and India VIX: Zerodha Kite market data (NSE and BSE)
- Short covering, four-day streak, Sensex move from its low, breadth, sector count: Upstox market close; top gainers and losers: Upstox
- Dr Reddy's results: Kotak Neo, Investywise
- JSW Steel results: APAC News Network, Whalesbook
- Shriram Finance asset quality and guidance: Upstox; board approval on 23 October: Business News Week
- Infosys guidance: results release, Form 6-K, US SEC
- Brent: Trading Economics; Friday's level: Associated Press via La Nación
- FII and DII flows: NSE provisional data via 5paisa
- Dates: NSE holiday list and expiry rules; Jio Platforms dates as in the 23 October report
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.