Dalal Street celebrated an early Diwali on Thursday. Benchmark indices logged their biggest single-day gain in months, surging over 2.5% each, as crude oil plunged below $95 and Democrats swept US midterms, raising bets of an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran and triggering the strongest Wall Street post-election rally in 44 years.
The BSE Sensex closed at 79,310.01, up 2,008.61 points or 2.60% at 3:32 PM IST. It opened at 78,910.94 versus previous close of 77,301.40, touched an intra-day low of 78,520.56, then surged to a high of 79,470.03, closing near high. At 9:16 AM it was up 1,367.69 points or 1.77% to 78,669.09, and by 1:45 PM it was up 2,052.45 points or 2.66% to 79,353.85. In early trade it opened 1,300 points higher at 78,630. Previous close was 77,301.40. 52-week high 86,159.02, low 71,292.88.
The NSE Nifty 50 ended at 24,536.60, up 576.00 points or 2.40% at 3:31 PM IST. It opened at 24,378.05 versus previous close of 23,960.60, hit a low of 24,296.30, and surged to a high of 24,579.90, closing at 24,536.60. At 9:16 AM it was at 24,339.85 up 379.25 points or 1.58%, and by 1:45 PM it gained 590.60 points or 2.46% to 24,551.20. It crossed 24,500 for first time since September 4, 2026. Previous close was 23,960.60. 52-week high 26,373.20, low 22,179.90. The 1-day chart was a steady uptrend from open, with Nifty decisively reclaiming its 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-day exponential moving averages in a single session.
Six-Day Winning Streak – Longest In A Year
Both indices have gained more than 8% over past six sessions, marking longest winning streak in a year. Nifty has rallied 7.6% or 1,743.35 points in last six sessions to hit one-month high of 24,442.20 on Nov 5 versus 22,698.85 close on Oct 28. Sensex gained 7.8% or 5,755.16 points to 79,001.19 from 73,246.03 Oct 28 close. The rally helped trim year-to-date losses to 6.5% for Nifty and 7.4% for Sensex.
Wealth Creation
Investors added nearly Rs 8 lakh crore in a day. Total market cap of all BSE companies stood at Rs 4,93,44,359 crore at open Thursday, jumped to Rs 5,02,48,801 crore by 2:45 PM – rise of nearly Rs 8 lakh crore. At 2 PM, Sensex was up 2,070 points to 79,371.40 and Nifty up 596.20 points to 24,556.80 as of 2 PM.
Why Market Up Today – Three Big Triggers
Crude Crash
Biggest trigger. Brent crude plunged 8.7% in previous session, settled $8.98 lower at $94.62 a barrel, while WTI fell $7.97 or 8.3% to $88.12, both closed at lowest since August 31. Thursday Brent extended fall – trading 1.07% lower at $93.61, January Brent at $93.89 down 0.77%, WTI at $86.95-87 down 1.33% to 1.18%, MCX November crude at Rs 8,222 vs Rs 8,364 down 1.70%. Brent has dropped about 20% so far this week, both benchmarks retreated more than 15% this week, on track for largest weekly drop since April 2020 when US crude briefly fell into negative territory. Brent traded as high as $118 a barrel in October before sell-off. Fall effectively eliminated India’s imported inflation fears, said analysts.
Blue Wave And FII Buying
US midterm election results – Democratic Party took control of House and Senate, throwing President Trump’s agenda into uncertainty. Foreign investors bought Indian equities worth Rs 7,284 crore on Wednesday, highest single-day purchase since October 28, 2025, and Rs 6,837 crore Tuesday, marking third straight day of buying. At open, Sensex opened 1,364.72 points up to 78,666.12, Nifty up 374.40 points to 24,335.00. S&P 500 touched three-month high overnight after Democrats swept both chambers, strongest post-election rally in 44 years, dollar fell to one-month low of $1.1273 per euro, 10-year US Treasury yield down 6 bps to 4.87% overnight and further to 4.85%, 2-year yield down to 4.56%.
Sectoral Trends – Financials Lead
Top Gainers
Bajaj Finance stole spotlight with 7.26% jump, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra up 6.20%, IndiGo up 6.56%, Shriram Finance, BSE Ltd up 6.7% to hit intra-day high, Tata Motors PV, HDFC Bank up 2.69%, Asian Paints up 4.77%, Maruti Suzuki up 4.03%. Nifty MidCap and SmallCap advanced 1.19% and 1.14% respectively. Adani Ports, Aurobindo Pharma, Coforge, Eternal, others rose to 52-week highs.
Business Beat – M&M, BSE, Lenskart, Nykaa Shine
Q2 season packed – nearly 300 companies reported today.
Mahindra & Mahindra – Auto Star
Standalone PAT up 12.85-13% YoY to Rs 5,101.62 crore vs Rs 4,520.52 crore in Q2FY27, revenue from operations up 27.10% YoY to Rs 42,477.42 crore, double-digit profit growth alongside sharper revenue increase. Shares jumped 6%.
Capital Market And New Age
BSE Ltd reported consolidated net profit Rs 809.1-809.15 crore up 44.9% YoY, revenue Rs 1,432.7 crore up 34.1%. Lenskart Solutions standalone PAT up 69.3% to Rs 167.85 crore vs Rs 99.11 crore, consolidated profit up 122.1% to Rs 227.1 crore, revenue up 35.7% to Rs 2,845 crore. FSN E-Commerce Ventures Nykaa profit up 206.8% to Rs 101.2 crore, revenue up 28.1% to Rs 3,006 crore, standalone PAT up 36% to Rs 16.71 crore, board approved acquiring 82% stake in Simply Nam for Rs 33 crore. KFin Technologies up 4.58% to Rs 901.05 on results.
Other Q2 Highlights
LG Electronics India profit up 25.66-25.7% to Rs 489-489.3 crore vs Rs 389 crore, revenue up 19.5% to Rs 7,380 crore vs Rs 6,174 crore, expanding footprint in B2B Vehicle Solutions. Samvardhana Motherson International PAT up 13.88-14% to Rs 1,175.32 crore vs Rs 1,032.05 crore, revenue up 10% YoY to Rs 38,280 crore, EBITDA margin flat at 8.8%. Berger Paints India net profit up 5.1-5.13% to Rs 216.88-217 crore vs Rs 206.29 crore, revenue up 13.19% to Rs 3,200.37 crore vs Rs 2,827 crore, margin at 11.6% vs 12.5%. IPCA Laboratories standalone PAT rose 27% to Rs 387.29 crore, Bharat Forge standalone PAT at Rs 370.8 crore up 19.6% but consolidated PAT down 7% to Rs 2,787 crore vs Rs 2,993 crore, NBCC profit up 34.5% to Rs 206 crore revenue up 16.5% to Rs 3,396 crore, Torrent Power profit up 13.33% to Rs 820.19 crore revenue up 24.44% to Rs 9,801.58 crore, Dabur India profit up 11.7% to Rs 505.5 crore revenue up 11.6% to Rs 3,563.1 crore with India FMCG growth 10.7% and international 20%, Emami net profit down 2.82% to Rs 144 crore vs Rs 148.35 crore revenue up 36.21% to Rs 1,088 crore, BEML profit down 31.3% to Rs 33 crore revenue up 42.1% to Rs 1,192 crore.
Next Big Results
Bharti Airtel, LIC, Titan, ONGC, Britannia, Prestige Estates, Fortis Healthcare, Abbott India, Bharat Forge, Glenmark Pharma, UNO Minda lined up.
Geopolitics – Oil Slides On Hopes Of Iran War Exit
Midterm Rout
Republicans lost control of Congress in midterms. Vote counting underway, Democrats snaring majorities in both houses for rest of Trump’s second term. Trump acknowledged Iran war played role in party’s sweeping defeat, Vice President JD Vance wrote on X, The reason we lost is the war. Average US gasoline price stood at $4.12 per gallon Wednesday, approximately 39% higher than before war began February 28.
Crude Crashes On Diplomacy Hopes
Brent oil slides to $94 on Iran uncertainty after midterms, slid 8.47% to $94.83 at 8:58 PM UAE time, WTI shed 7.5% to $88.88. Brent had traded as high as $118 in October, now testing overnight lows at $93.50-94.21 in Asia morning as traders bet Trump facing Democratic Congress and hurt by high energy prices would be less likely to escalate war. Democratic-controlled Congress could limit funding for military operations in West Asia. Trump told Financial Times Tuesday US had no immediate plans to strike Iran, and Wednesday acknowledged war played role. US carried out defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island targeting surface-to-air missiles used against US assets Monday night, official said strikes appeared limited and did not signal return to major combat.
Inventory And Surplus
Crude inventories fell 865,000 barrels to 409.8 million barrels in week ended October 30 per EIA, vs analysts expectation of 877,000-barrel rise, gasoline and distillate inventories fell too, 4% below five-year average. Gulf exports of crude, condensate and refined products averaged 17.1 million bpd in October per Vortexa, down from 18.9 million bpd September but still roughly three-quarters of pre-war levels. JPMorgan expects global oil market surplus of 1.1 million bpd in September and 1.4 million bpd in October as recovering Gulf production shifts market back into surplus.
Outlook
Nifty sustaining above 24,000 and 24,500 will keep bias positive, analysts say Bernstein retained Nifty target 25,000. Democrat Congress limits military options and pressures Trump to negotiate, pulling war premium out of oil.
