After the initial post-Diwali euphoria, the Indian stock market took a breather today, ending lower amid weakness in FMCG and banking stocks. The Sensex closed at 84,211.88, down 0.41%, while the Nifty50 settled at 25,795.15, slipping 0.37%.
The Nifty Bank also joined the decline, ending at 57,699.60, lower by 0.65%.
Let’s take a look at the key highlights of today’s trading session –
Top gainers
In today’s session, the standout performers from the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank among other stocks.
Key losers
On the downside, major drags on the index were Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank among other stocks.
Midday movers
The Nifty India Defence Index climbed 1% in the intraday trade today.
Bharat Dynamics gained over 2%, while Bharat Electronics (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) were up close to 1% each. Cochin Shipyard and Paras Defence rose nearly 3%, whereas Swan Defence hit the upper circuit with a 5% gain.
Metal stocks extended their rally. NALCO soared nearly 5%, while Hindalco Industries jumped 4.3% to touch a new lifetime high of Rs 826 in the intraday trading session. Vedanta also surged close to 4% during the session.
FMCG giants came under heavy selling pressure after posting their quarterly results. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell over 3% in intraday trade as investors reacted to muted Q2FY26 earnings. Colgate-Palmolive also slipped nearly 4% in the intraday trade.
Top sectors
Sectorally, metals and telecom names led the gainers list. The Metal–Non Ferrous index advanced around 2%, while Mining and Telecommunication sectors added about 1% each.