Highlights: Profit booking in afternoon trade – Nifty closes below 25,900, Sensex slips 400 points from day’s high

The Sensex settled at 84,556.40, up 130.06 points (0.15%), while the Nifty closed at 25,891.40, gaining 22.80 points (0.09%)

Jefferies expects the Sunteck Realty share price to rally 34% over the next 12 months. It is their preferred midcap pick in the real estate sector. According to Jefferies, “new project launches across Mumbai’s suburbs and redevelopment opportunities” are likely to be key drivers for “improved earnings visibility.”

Read More: Jefferies has a Buy rating on this real estate stock with up to 34% upside potential: Here’s why

The Eternal share price is under severe selling pressure in trade today. The share price is down 3% intra-day.

CLSA recently recommended a ‘High Conviction Outperform’ rating on the stock. They have aprice target of Rs 450, revised higher from the earlier Rs 431.

According to the international brokerage house, ” Blinkit’s move to an inventory model has also been faster than expected and, consequently, its competitive advantage relative to peers has widened, which Eternal is using to further increase customer loyalty by sharing some of the cost advantages.” With guidance for doubling Net order value and a 50% increase in dark stores, CLSA expects significant expansion.

Vodafone Idea shares rose up to 7% today, marking their third consecutive day of gains.

Birlasoft shares jumped over 10% on October 23, marking the biggest single-day gain since May 2021. The surge was attributed to the Trump administration’s clarification on H-1B visa fees, which will not apply to F-1 student visa holders, L-1 intra-company transferees, and current H-1B visa holders seeking renewals or extensions.

The share price of Hindustan Unilever is up 0.7%. Hindustan Unilever has declared an interim dividend of Rs 19 per equity share for the financial year ending March 31, 2026. Each share carries a face value of Rs 1

Shares of Bharat Forge rallied nearly 5% tody, after reports surfaced that its partnership firm, PLR Systems, secured a significant ₹2,770 crore order from the Indian Army for close quarters battle (CQB) carbines.

At 1 pm, the Sensex was trading at 85,094.41, up 668 points or 0.79%, while the Nifty stood at 26,058.10, higher by 189.50 points or 0.73%.

Infosys shares jumped nearly 5% in today’s trade, making the IT major the top gainer on the Nifty so far. The rise came after Infosys promoters including co-founders N.R. Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, and Sudha Murty decided not to take part in the company’s Rs 18,000 crore share buyback.

Also read: 3 big reasons why Infosys shares surge 4% today: A detailed analysis

Textile stocks rally up to 17%: Vardhman Textiles, Gokaldas Exports, Kitex Garments, Trident, Indo Count, Pearl Global, Welspun Living, and KPR Mill surged on hopes of an India–US trade deal and a possible import duty cut on textile goods from 50% to 15–16%.

Gold loan firms slide: Muthoot Finance fell 4.3% to Rs 3,134.20 and Manappuram Finance dropped 2.8% to Rs 277.90 as gold prices corrected for a third straight session, weakening collateral values.

Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 0.6% to Rs 420.25 after winning a Rs 633 crore defence order from Cochin Shipyard. The stock remains just 3.6% below its 52-week high.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose nearly 3% to Rs 2,667.55 after posting a 3% year-on-year profit rise in Q2 FY26 to Rs 2,690 crore and declaring an interim dividend.

At 12 pm, markets continued to trade strong with the Sensex up 741 points or 0.88% at 85,167.78, while the Nifty rose 216 points or 0.84% to 26,085.25.

At this hour, the key losers in the market include Adani Ports, down 0.29% at Rs 1,468.90, Reliance Industries slipping 0.32% to Rs 1,460.50, UltraTech Cement down 0.34% at Rs 12,304.30, Bharti Airtel falling 1.47% to Rs 2,013.30, and Eternal Industries declining 1.95% at Rs 331.45.

At this hour, the top gainers on the market include Infosys, trading up 4.69% at Rs 1,541, followed by HCL Tech at Rs 1,539.45, up 3.47%. Axis Bank is higher by 3.04% at Rs 1,273.50, TCS has gained 2.72% to Rs 3,089, and Tech Mahindra is up 2.39% at Rs 1,482.95.

At 11:00 am, the market is still trading with the Sensex up 712.28 points at 85,138.62, a gain of 0.84%, while the Nifty is trading 202.50 points higher at 26,071.10, up 0.78%.

IT stocks are leading the gains, with Infosys up over 4% following its Rs 18,000 crore share buyback announcement, while HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra are also performing well. Banking stocks, including Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, have contributed to the positive trend.

Broad-based sectoral gains are visible, with Nifty IT up 2%, FMCG higher by 1%, and auto, metals, and media sectors up over 0.5%.

Investors are reacting positively to reports that India and the US may soon finalise a trade deal, which could reduce tariffs on Indian exports from 50% to around 15–16%. Strong festival sales and renewed FII buying have further supported the market, with short-covering adding momentum, especially in large-cap and textile stocks.

Also read: 5 reasons why the market is up today: Nifty surges 0.8%, Sensex rallies nearly 800 points led by tech stocks

Jefferies has come out with its report on banks after the key Q2 results announcement. They see moderate growth and expecte “improving margins from December 2025 quarter to aid growth. HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI are among our top picks.”

Speaking on the overall banking sector dynamics they see a steady growth in credit over the next three years, aided by buoyancy in retail and SME credit as well as some pick-up in corporate capex cycle. “We expect that banks we cover will see 12% CAGR in credit growth over FY25-FY28. Moreover, these may come at better yields compared to working capital loans, which have so far been driving credit demand,” they added.

Read More: Jefferies raises targets for 10 banks including HDFC Bank, Bandhan Bank with up to 34% upside potential

Nifty is up 0.8% above the 26,050 levelsled by tech and banks. Infosys is the big index gainer.

The Sensex is up 700 points, well above the 85,100 level.

In key news that the market is watching out for, Reuters report indicates that Reliance Industries, the top Indian buyer of Russian oil, plans to adjust crude imports from Moscow to align with guidelines from the Indian government, a company spokesman said, after the U.S. and Europe ramped up sanctions against Russia.

“Recalibration of Russian oil imports is ongoing and Reliance will be fully aligned to GOI (Government of India) guidelines on the extent of recalibration,” Reliance said in response to a Reuters query on whether the company plans to cut its crude imports from Russia.

Speaking on the key Index levels to track, Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said, “We are of the view that the trend is upward, but due to temporary overbought conditions, we could see range-bound activity around the highs. For traders, support is placed at 25,950-26,050. For the Sensex, the support is seen at 84,600-84,900 levels, while 26,250-26,450 on Nifty and 85,600-86,200 on Sensex would act as crucial resistance levels for the bulls. Reduce weak long positions around the resistance levels.”

“High momentum as confirmed by oscillators have been successful in letting Nifty trade close to the upper bollinger band on consecutive days. In this construct, bearish candles formed in the last two days could get ignored initially, before precipitating into a sharp reversal. For now, upside objective is set at 26186, with 26800 appearing as an optimistic objective. Meanwhile, downside marker is placed at 25780, but an outright reversal is not expected today,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments.

Infosys leads the gainers list on Nifty. The stock is up 3% after Infosys promoters to skip Rs 18, 000 crore share buyback.

The other big inners include

-HCL Tech

-Axis Bank

-Tata Steel

-Tech Mahindra

-HUL

Riding on India-US trade optimism, both domestic indices opened higher. The Sensex rose to 85,173, up 0.88%, while the Nifty climbed to 26,057, marking a 0.73% gain.

The Sensex is surging in pre-opening trade at 85,154.15, up 727.81 points (0.86%), while the Nifty 50 is trading higher at 26,057.20, gaining 188.60 points (0.73%).

In pre-opening trade today, the Sensex is at 84,795.84, up 369.50 points (0.44%), while the Nifty 50 is trading at 26,024.85, up 156.25 points (0.60%).

As per reports, India and the US are close to finalising a trade agreement on energy and agriculture. The US may cut tariffs on Indian imports from 50% to around 15% after India agreed to reduce Russian oil purchases.

Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, are expected to open higher on Thursday, fueled by optimism over an India-US trade deal. GIFT Nifty futures were trading 363 points up at 26,267.

“Dalal Street kicked off Samvat 2082 on a jubilant note, with the Sensex and Nifty marking their fifth straight day of gains during the Mahurat trading session. The mood remains buoyant as the U.S. reportedly plans to slash tariffs on Indian imports to just 15–16% — a game-changing move that could supercharge India’s trade competitiveness and exports,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta.

“With global sentiment turning supportive, Nifty’s record high of 26,277.35 appears well within reach, and a surge towards the 27,000 mark over the next year looks likely. The rally, initially fuelled by the RBI’s dovish stance, is broadening out — signalling that happy days are here again,” he added.

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones fell 334 points, or 0.71%, to 46,590.41. The S&P 500 slipped 0.53% to 6,699.40, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.93% to 22,740.40.

Asian markets started lower on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% in early trade, and the Topix index dropped 0.7%. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.5%, while the Kosdaq lost 1%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.3%.