Nifty 50 Rises 0.68% on Oct 26, 2026 as Value Buying Lifts Stocks

Key takeaways

• The Nifty 50 rose 153.20 points (+0.68%) to 22,753.20 and the BSE Sensex rose 482.92 points (+0.66%) to 73,606.75 on October 26, 2026, ending a four-day losing streak (Yahoo Finance; as of 2026-10-26 10:00 UTC).
• Both indices recovered from steep early losses: the Sensex climbed 1,092.18 points from its intraday low of 72,514.57, and the Nifty 365.85 points from its low of 22,387.35 (Yahoo Finance; The Daily Jagran).
• The Nifty Bank index lagged, rising 79.35 points (+0.15%) to 54,366.70, while India VIX edged up to 17.16 from 16.86 (+1.78%) (Yahoo Finance).
• The RBI reference rate, set by FBIL, was 95.1549 rupees per US dollar at 1:00 pm IST, up from 94.9432 on October 23, meaning a weaker rupee (Reserve Bank of India).
• Foreign institutional investors bought a net ₹887.65 crore of shares on October 23 and domestic institutions bought a net ₹3,235.36 crore (provisional data via Kotak Neo).

Session recap

The Nifty 50 rose 0.68% to 22,753.20 and the Sensex gained 0.66% to 73,606.75 on Monday, as investors bought stocks that had fallen in last week's selloff, according to Outlook Business. It was the first gain in five sessions. For the wider region, see Asian and global markets today; for Friday's fall, see our October 23 India brief.

The day started badly. Around 9:45 am IST, Kotak Neo reported the Sensex down 383.32 points at 72,740.51 and the Nifty down 133.30 points at 22,466.70, with IT, PSU bank and auto stocks leading losses. The Sensex then hit a low of 72,514.57 before turning higher. By the 15:30 IST (10:00 UTC) close, the Nifty had finished at its highest level of the day, according to Yahoo Finance data.

Notes: Changes are calculated from the October 23 closes (Nifty 50 22,600.00; Sensex 73,123.83; Nifty Bank 54,287.35; India VIX 16.86). The rupee opened almost flat at 94.93 per dollar against a previous close of 94.94, Kotak Neo reported; no verified closing spot rate for October 26 was available at writing.

Leaders included Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, IndiGo, Sun Pharma and Bharat Electronics, while Infosys, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and HCL Tech were among the laggards, The Daily Jagran reported. By late morning the Nifty MidCap 100 was up 0.15% and the Nifty SmallCap 100 up 0.34%, Kotak Neo said, a change from Friday, when both fell more than 2%.

What drove it

Value buying after a four-day slide

Market reports put the rebound down mainly to bargain hunting. Outlook Business said investors bought beaten-down stocks after last week's correction, helped by a modest easing in crude. The Daily Jagran cited value buying in heavyweights plus short covering, which is when traders who bet on falling prices buy shares back to close their positions. V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, told Outlook Business that last week's mid- and small-cap selloff reflected stretched valuations and forced selling of margin-funded trades.

Earnings: banks up, IT down

September-quarter results drove sharp single-stock moves. Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 4% in early trade after a 26% rise in consolidated net profit, Kotak Neo reported. Infosys fell 3.4% in early trade after cutting its annual revenue growth forecast on weakness in North America, according to Outlook Business, and IT was the biggest early drag on the market. AU Small Finance Bank fell as much as 10% intraday despite a 53% jump in net profit (Kotak Neo).

Oil eases but stays high

Brent crude fell 2.1% to $114.3 a barrel in Asian morning trade, HDFC Sky reported, after Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi oil facilities over the weekend. TradingKey said prices slipped further after US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US would not strike Iran that day. Yahoo Finance's front-month Brent quote stood at $110.09 at 10:04 UTC; quotes vary by contract month and time. Vijayakumar said oil "continues to be too high" and would constrain any rally (Outlook Business).

Rupee and volatility

The weaker reference rate shows continued pressure on the rupee from India's oil import bill. India VIX, NSE's gauge of expected 30-day volatility, rose for a fourth straight session, so traders kept paying for protection despite the index gain. Ponmudi R, chief executive of Enrich Money, said the rebound was not structural, citing geopolitical tensions and high crude prices (The Daily Jagran).

Political & policy watch

• Monetary policy: The RBI's policy repo rate is 5.50%, according to the central bank's website. SCC Online reported that the RBI raised it by 25 basis points on October 7.
• West Asia: Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more missiles and drones on Sunday, and the Houthis claimed weekend attacks on Saudi oil facilities and an airport (HDFC Sky). For India, which imports most of its crude, this is the main outside risk.
• US policy: Investors are cautious before the US Federal Reserve's decision this week, Outlook Business reported. Vijayakumar said a weaker global AI trade "is positive for India," noting that foreign outflows from South Korea and Taiwan have exceeded those from India in September and October.
• Capital markets: Jio Platforms has a tentative listing date of October 28 on NSE and BSE, according to Groww.

What to watch next

For how crude feeds into prices and interest rates, read our explainer on how oil price shocks hit inflation and rates, and see the Japan stocks brief for October 26 for another Asian market.

Risk checklist for readers

• A one-day rebound after a losing streak does not on its own signal a change in trend; market reports described Monday's move as value buying and short covering.
• Oil is a major swing factor for Indian assets. Gulf security news can move crude by several percent in hours, and Brent quotes differ by contract month and time.
• India VIX measures expected volatility, not direction. It rose on Monday even though the indices gained.
• Provisional FII/DII figures are early estimates. NSDL depository data, released later, is the fuller record and can differ.
• A weaker rupee reduces the dollar value of Indian assets for overseas investors.
• Earnings reactions can be large even after strong results, as AU Small Finance Bank showed. Check company filings with NSE and BSE for the actual figures.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.