The market was seen to be swinging during the middle of the intraday session. The Nifty pushed past the 26,000 mark, up around 140 points, while the Sensex added roughly 380 points to trade near 85,000. The mood turned upbeat after US President Donald Trump indicated his intention to strike a trade deal with India soon.
Still, the enthusiasm wasn’t broad-based. Asset management companies (AMCs) came under sharp selling pressure after SEBI’s fresh proposal to rationalise mutual fund expense ratios. Meanwhile, metal and sugar stocks took charge, helped by global and policy-driven triggers.
Here are the top movers and shakers at this hour:
Metal stocks
Metal counters are on fire. The Nifty Metal index climbed over 2% to hit a record high of 10,810.25. Optimism around easing US-China trade tensions and rising bets on a US Federal Reserve rate cut sparked the rally. It was the sixth straight session when stocks surged, with more than 4% gains in the period.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) share price surged nearly 8% to Rs 142 ahead of its September-quarter results due later today. Hindustan Copper jumped 3%, while Hindustan Zinc and NMDC gained almost as much. Vedanta, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel were all up over 2%. Jindal Stainless and NALCO advanced more than 1%, with Hindalco and Adani Enterprises also inching higher by around 1%.
Sugar stocks
Sugar stocks saw renewed interest after reports that the government may permit sugar exports for 2025–26, as domestic supplies swell due to lower-than-projected diversion toward ethanol.
Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said mills diverted only 3.4 million tonnes of sugar for ethanol production in 2024–25, versus the expected 4.5 million tonnes. This has led to excess stockpiles heading into the new season.
For 2025–26, sugar production is pegged at 34 million tonnes, against domestic consumption of around 28.5 million tonnes. The possibility of export approvals sent shares of Balrampur Chini, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Triveni Engineering, and Shree Renuka Sugars up between 4- 6%.
Blue Dart Express
Blue Dart share price jumped 15% to an intraday high of Rs 6,376 on strong quarterly earnings. The logistics firm reported a 29% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 81 crore for Q2 FY26, up from Rs 63 crore last year. Revenue rose 7% to Rs 1,549 crore, and EBITDA climbed 16% to Rs 252 crore.
EBITDA margins improved 120 basis points to 16.3%, reflecting efficiency gains despite higher fuel costs. “Our network capacity and service margins are now stable; the festive quarter should see stronger throughput,” said company management.
The stock has now gained more than 25% this month, making it one of the top midcap performers.
HDFC AMC, Nippon Life, and Prudent Advisory
Shares of asset management companies were deep in the red after SEBI floated a consultation paper proposing new rules for mutual fund expense ratios.
HDFC AMC, Nippon Life India Asset Management, and Prudent Corporate Advisory Services all declined between 4% and 7%. The regulator plans to eliminate the additional 5 basis points (bps) charge allowed across schemes, aiming to simplify the structure of total expense ratios (TERs).
Jefferies said the proposed change could impact AMC profitability in the near term.
Adani Green Energy
Adani Green share price jumped 13.7% to Rs 1,142.40 after the company posted a 25% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 644 crore for Q2 FY26.
Revenue, however, declined 4.3% to Rs 3,249 crore, but EBITDA rose 9% to Rs 2,844 crore, with margins expanding sharply to 87.5% from 76.8% a year earlier. Revenue from power supply increased 20% to Rs 2,776 crore.
Operational capacity grew 49% year-on-year to 16.7 GW as of September 30, putting the company firmly on track toward its 50 GW target. Energy sales surged 39% to 19,569 million units, driven by hybrid, wind, and solar additions.
Reliance Power
Reliance Power’s share price jumped 8.3% to an intraday high of Rs 47.45 after two days of decline. The rally marked a reversal in sentiment, with the stock outperforming the power index by over 5%. However, no corporate announcement was recorded recently.
Varun Beverages
Varun Beverages’ share price rose 6.4% to Rs 483 after the company posted higher sales volume in Q3 CY2025 despite heavy monsoons. Consolidated sales reached 273.8 million cases, up from 267.5 million last year.
Gross margins improved by 119 basis points to 56.7%, driven by a higher water sales mix in international markets. The company also benefited from cost savings through backward integration in raw material sourcing and manufacturing.
DCM Shriram
DCM Shriram share price climbed 8.2% amid an unusual spike in trading activity. Volume soared 32 times above average, 26.88 lakh shares traded compared with a daily average of just 83,000.
On the BSE, about 1.52 lakh shares changed hands. No corporate announcement accompanied the surge, but heavy block trades were seen.