Friday the 13th lived up to market lore on Dalal Street as Indian benchmark equities snapped their nine-session winning streak—excluding the symbolic Muhurat trading session—which had added nearly 10.5% to the indices. Profit-booking at elevated levels, a sharp rebound in global crude oil prices, and a two-year high in domestic retail inflation that stoked fears of a December Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rate hike weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 81,592.45, down 318.56 points or 0.39%. After opening lower at 81,833.78 against its previous close of 81,911.01, the index touched an intraday high of 81,879.51 before sliding nearly 591 points to an intraday low of 81,288.75, recouping part of its losses in the final hour. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 25,144.30, shedding 155.05 points or 0.61%, after oscillating between a peak of 25,246.35 and a trough of 25,054.40.
Broad-Based Selling Drags Midcaps, Realty, and Autos
Market breadth turned decisively weak on Friday, with 2,328 shares declining against 1,763 advancing counters on the BSE, and 38 of the 50 Nifty constituents ending in the red:
Broader Markets Cool: The Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.24% to 0.72% (settling near 61,593), while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.26% to 0.49%.
Sectoral Laggards: Interest-rate-sensitive sectors took the brunt of the sell-off. Nifty Realty, Auto, Metal, Cement, and Bank indices led the losses, with Nifty Bank dropping 0.79% to 61,034.10.
Key Movers: Shriram Finance (-3.37%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (-3.31%), Grasim Industries (-2.60%), M&M (-2.13%), and UltraTech Cement (-1.65%) topped the losers’ list. Conversely, defensive and consumption names offered some cushion, led by Eicher Motors (+1.34%), Hindustan Unilever (+0.96% to +1.22%), Asian Paints (+0.87%), and Bharti Airtel (+0.69%).
Volatility Gauge: Despite the market pullback, the India VIX dropped 6.45% to 15.55, suggesting traders were not panicking over a deeper structural reversal.
Three Triggers Behind Friday’s Retreat
Retail Inflation Breaches RBI’s 6% Limit: Government data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed India’s headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation jumped to a 24-month high of 6.09% in October 2026, up from 5.54% in September and crossing the RBI’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% for the first time in two years. Food inflation spiked to 8.94% (from 7.74% in September), driven by steep surges in onion and garlic prices. With JPMorgan projecting inflation to hover near 6% through June 2027 and November readings tracking around 6.4%, economists increasingly anticipate a policy repo rate hike at the RBI’s December Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
Crude Oil Rebounds Past $95: Brent crude futures climbed back above the $95-per-barrel mark—trading around $95.40 to $96.06 compared to roughly $92 at Thursday’s Indian market close—while WTI rose toward $88.00–$88.97. The rebound eroded some of the macroeconomic relief enjoyed earlier in the week, though Brent remained on track for a modest weekly decline.
Natural Profit-Booking: Having surged roughly 10.5% across an uninterrupted nine-session run—marking the longest winning streak of 2026—traders locked in gains ahead of the weekend, offsetting Thursday’s continued Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) net inflows of ₹7,830.60 crore.
Corporate Beat: Vodafone Idea, HAL, and IRCTC in Focus
Investors reacted to a heavy slate of over 400 Q2 FY27 earnings announcements released late Thursday:
Vodafone Idea: Shares fell over 3% in morning trade (opening at ₹12.60 against a previous close of ₹12.98) after the telecom operator’s consolidated net loss widened to ₹5,975 crore for the September quarter, impacted by a ₹462 crore exceptional loss. Excluding exceptional items, losses narrowed slightly to ₹5,513 crore. Revenue from operations grew 6.2% YoY to ₹11,884 crore, while Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) climbed to ₹198 from ₹195 sequentially, and quarterly capex more than doubled to ₹3,946 crore to expand 5G across 400 cities. Brokerages remained divided, with JM Financial maintaining an ‘Add’ rating (target ₹14.70), Nomura staying ‘Neutral’ (₹13.50), and JPMorgan keeping an ‘Underweight’ stance (₹9).
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL): The defence PSU reported a 16% YoY jump in consolidated net profit to ₹1,936 crore on 15% higher revenue of ₹7,613 crore, and declared an interim dividend of ₹7 per share (record date November 20). However, EBITDA margins contracted to 22.8% against consensus expectations of 25% due to product mix shifts, causing the stock to dip up to 4% before staging a partial recovery.
IRCTC: Posted a solid 16% YoY increase in quarterly revenue to ₹1,333 crore.
Geopolitics: Crude Spikes as Trump Rules Out Iran Deal
Global energy markets turned jittery after US President Donald Trump stepped back from diplomatic negotiations with Tehran, stating that Washington no longer requires an agreement with Iran and directing Vice President JD Vance to focus on domestic priorities. With Iran insisting that sanctions and naval blockades be lifted before talks can resume, and reports of renewed strikes on regional oil facilities alongside 36 confirmed commercial vessel attacks across the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz in October, supply risk premiums returned.
Goldman Sachs warned that Brent crude could surge toward $140 per barrel in 2027 under a severe supply disruption scenario, even as OPEC crude output rose by 1.96 million bpd to 27.16 million bpd in October. Back home, state-run oil marketing companies (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL) kept retail pump prices unchanged, with petrol at ₹102.12 per litre and diesel at ₹95.20 in Delhi.
Market Outlook
Technical analysts see immediate support for the Nifty 50 placed at 25,120–25,000, while overhead resistance sits at 25,300–25,424. Going into next week, institutional flows, Brent crude’s trajectory above $95, and evolving rate expectations ahead of the RBI’s December policy review will dictate near-term direction.
