Indices drift lower in early trade; breadth positive

The key equity indices traded with moderate losses in early trade on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid persistently elevated crude oil prices, despite a modest easing in rates. Market sentiment was also influenced by the ongoing Q2 earnings season, with the Nifty slipping below the 22,700 mark.

IT, oil & gas and private bank shares declined while buying interest emerged in media, pharma and PSU Bank stocks.

At 09:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 280.75 points or 0.38% to 73,326. The Nifty 50 index fell 56.15 points or 0.25% to 22,699.80.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index advanced 0.44% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.76%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,173 shares rose and 821 shares fell. A total of 195 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,462.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs 2,609.57 crore in the Indian equity market 26 October 2026, according to provisional data.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper remains unchanged at 7.482.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.1350 compared with its close of 95.1500 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 4 December 2026 settlement fell 0.18% to Rs 1,42,815.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.08% to 102.04.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.34% to 4.965.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for the December 2026 settlement declined 88 cents or 0.76% to $114.93 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

One 97 Communications (Paytm) shed 0.13%. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 226 crore in Q2 FY27 as against Rs 21 crore in Q2 FY26. Revenue from operations jumped 28.48% YoY to Rs 2,648 crore from Rs 2,061 crore.

Nazara Technologies fell 1.69%. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 35.36 crore in Q2 FY27 as against a net loss of Rs 33.9 crore in Q2 FY26. Revenue from operations surged 52.55% YoY to Rs 803.2 crore from Rs 526.5 crore.

REC declined 2.85% after the company reported a 21.22% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,477.7 crore in Q2 FY27 as against Rs 4,414.9 crore in Q2 FY26. Net interest income (NII) declined 9.03% YoY to Rs 5,478.4 crore from Rs 6,022 crore.

Global Markets:

Dow futures rose 99 points, signalling a higher opening for US stocks.

Asian equities traded mixed on Tuesday, as the filing for artificial intelligence company Anthropic's planned initial public offering revived appetite for technology stocks ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings and central bank decisions.

South Korea's economy grew 3.4% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, slowing from 3.7% in the previous quarter, preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed on Tuesday. GDP expanded 1.0% quarter on quarter, accelerating from 0.6% in the April-June quarter. Semiconductor exports and investment in production equipment supported the expansion, although private consumption fell 0.2% quarter on quarter.

Wall Street ended higher on Monday, 26 October 2026. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 146.42 points, or 0.28%, to 52,361.58. The S&P 500 gained 53.09 points, or 0.70%, to 7,676.77, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 214.04 points, or 0.83%, to 26,169.38. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 2.8%, marking its biggest one-day gain in a month, as chip-related shares led the recovery. The technology sector gained 1.5%, leading the S&P 500's 11 major sectors.

Anthropic's IPO filing helped revive the AI trade by highlighting rapid revenue growth alongside the substantial costs and risks of developing advanced AI systems. The company's first-half 2026 net loss widened to $80.7 billion, largely because of a non-operating accounting item related to convertible bonds. Its operating loss narrowed to $693 million, while adjusted operating income turned positive at $1.62 billion, compared with a loss of $1.85 billion a year earlier. Revenue grew 1,368% year on year in the three months ended 30 June 2026. The filing also highlighted risks linked to infrastructure costs, cloud-provider dependence and AI safety.

Individual stocks reflected renewed interest in AI infrastructure. Lumentum gained about 8% and Coherent rose around 6%, while Tesla advanced 5.2% after a Barclays upgrade. Meta Platforms fell 1.9% after announcing plans to raise up to $95 billion through equity offerings to fund its AI infrastructure expansion. The fundraising includes about $35 billion in public offerings and a separate share-sale programme of up to $60 billion. Meta's plans underscore investor scrutiny of the financing required to sustain AI-related capital expenditure.

Economic data offered a mixed signal on US activity and price pressures. The Dallas Federal Reserve's general business activity index rose to 13.4 in October from 9.8 in September, exceeding the 8.8 consensus forecast. However, the production index fell to 15.8 from 29.5, and the new-orders index declined to 9.3 from 30.7. The survey also showed the raw-materials price index rising to 55.3 from 52.2, pointing to continued input-cost pressure.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News