Desk Report
Indian markets ended Dhanteras with a spectacular rally on Friday, as the Sensex jumped 1,718 points to close above 81,000 and the Nifty reclaimed the 25,000 mark for the first time in eight months, capping the strongest week for Dalal Street in nearly six years.
The Sensex Dhanteras rally turned the first day of the Diwali festival into a celebration on Dalal Street. Both benchmark indices settled at their highs of the day, foreign investors kept buying, and banking stocks led the advance, even as stock markets across the world fell sharply. The gains came on a day when Indians traditionally buy gold, silver and new goods — and this year, they also bought shares in record style.
Sensex Dhanteras Rally: Both Indices Close at the Day’s High
The 30-share BSE Sensex soared 1,718.01 points, or 2.17 per cent, to close at 81,028.02 — its high for the day. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 493.75 points, or 2.01 per cent, to settle at 25,030.35, also its high for the day. The Sensex closed above the 80,000 mark for the first time since March 5, while the Nifty closed above 25,000 for the first time since February 27, 2026, and at its strongest closing level in nine months.
The rally was broad. Almost all Sensex constituents ended higher, with Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, NTPC, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Maruti, Infosys, Trent, Reliance Industries, HCL Technologies and Bharat Electronics among the gainers. The breadth of the advance showed that the buying was not limited to one sector or a handful of stocks, but spread across banks, automobiles, energy, technology and consumer names.
Seventh Straight Session of Gains
Friday was the seventh consecutive trading session in which both benchmarks rose. Over those seven sessions the Sensex has advanced 7,781.99 points and the Nifty has gained 2,331.5 points, turning a weak autumn into one of the sharpest recoveries in recent years.
The week as a whole was historic. The Sensex gained 8.82 per cent in the week ended November 6, while the Nifty rose 8.58 per cent — the biggest weekly gain for the Nifty since January 2021, when it had advanced around 9.5 per cent. Market data going back to 1992 shows this was also the strongest pre-Muhurat weekly rally in the available record for both benchmarks. The total market value of BSE-listed companies rose to about Rs 503 lakh crore, and investor wealth has risen by more than Rs 30 lakh crore over the seven-session run.
The timing matters. The rally has come just before Diwali, when sentiment in Indian markets traditionally turns positive, and two days before the special Muhurat trading session that marks the start of the new Samvat year, Samvat 2083. Traders said the combination of festive mood, strong foreign buying and easing oil prices created the conditions for the surge.
Foreign Investors Return in Force
A major force behind the Sensex Dhanteras rally has been the return of foreign institutional investors. After months of heavy selling, foreign portfolio investors have turned net buyers in Indian equities. On Thursday alone, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 14,974.68 crore, according to exchange data — their biggest single-day net purchase in nearly six years.
It was the fifth straight session in which foreign investors were net buyers, and their purchases over those five sessions totalled Rs 35,781 crore. Domestic institutions, by contrast, booked profits of Rs 10,444 crore on Thursday, selling into the rally. The shift in foreign flows has been one of the clearest signals that global investors are once again comfortable owning Indian shares, after a long phase in which they had pulled money out.
Analysts link the return of foreign money to several factors: expectations that interest rates have peaked, a stable rupee, strong corporate earnings in the September quarter, and India’s relative insulation from the global technology sell-off that has hit other markets this week.
Banks Lead the Charge; Mahindra & Mahindra Tops Gainers
Banking and financial services stocks were the biggest drivers of the latest surge. Heavy buying in banking heavyweights lifted sentiment through the session, with private lenders and the State Bank of India all ending firmly higher.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest gainer among Sensex constituents, rising 6.15 per cent after reporting a 25 per cent increase in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 4,587.88 crore for the September quarter. The strong result from one of India’s largest vehicle makers added to the festive cheer, since automobile sales are closely watched as a gauge of consumer demand during Diwali.
Other sectors joined in. Energy, metals, pharmaceuticals and consumer stocks all advanced, while the rally in Titan and other consumer names reflected the festival season’s demand for jewellery and discretionary goods. The breadth of the gains suggested that investors were buying the India growth story itself, rather than chasing a single theme.
India Defies a Global Tech Rout
What made Friday’s performance striking was that it came against a deep sell-off in world markets. Wall Street and Asian markets fell as investors sold technology and artificial intelligence stocks, unwinding a trade that had driven global equities for much of the year. Indian markets went the other way.
Part of the explanation lies in oil. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.50 per cent to 96.82 dollars per barrel on Friday, easing concerns around India’s import bill and inflation. India imports most of its crude oil, so cheaper oil directly improves the country’s trade balance and gives the central bank more room on interest rates.
The contrast with global markets also reflects how little of India’s rally depends on the artificial intelligence theme. While American and Asian technology stocks corrected sharply, Indian benchmarks are dominated by banks, energy, automobiles and consumer companies — sectors that have benefited from domestic demand and the festival season rather than from global technology valuations.
Gold Cools on Dhanteras Even as Buying Continues
The stock market’s fireworks came on a day when gold and silver prices eased, even as festive buying continued in jewellery markets. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, December gold futures fell 1.16 per cent to Rs 1,42,421 per 10 grams in early trading, while silver futures declined 1.36 per cent to Rs 1,84,600 per kilogram.
The dip did not dampen Dhanteras buying. Jewellers reported heavy footfall through the day, with buyers picking up lightweight ornaments, silver coins and traditional gift items. Traders said the price correction from the year’s highs had actually encouraged purchases, since gold remained far above last year’s levels and buyers saw the festival as the right occasion to buy.
The two markets told the same story from different angles: households were spending confidently, whether on gold for the festival or on shares for the year ahead. That confidence, traders said, is the real signal of the season.
What Next After the Sensex Dhanteras Rally
Attention now turns to Sunday, when the exchanges hold the special Muhurat trading session to mark Diwali and the start of Samvat 2083. Muhurat trading is a symbolic one-hour session, but it is watched closely as a sentiment marker for the year ahead, and this year’s session follows the strongest pre-Muhurat weekly rally on record.
The questions for the coming weeks are whether foreign buying continues at the current pace, whether the September-quarter earnings season keeps delivering strong results, and whether global technology stocks stabilise or drag sentiment down further. For now, the market has given Diwali a flying start: the Nifty is back above 25,000, the Sensex is back above 81,000, and seven sessions of gains have added more than Rs 30 lakh crore to investor wealth.
If the rally holds through Muhurat trading and into the new Samvat year, this Dhanteras will be remembered not only for record festive shopping, but as the day Dalal Street turned decisively upward.
Disclaimer: This report is based on available sources and verification. If any fact is found to be incorrect, a correction will be published.
