SENSEX, NIFTY50 snap 4-day losing streak on short covering led by Reliance, Kotak Bank

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their four-day losing streak on Monday, October 26, on account of a short-covering rally.

The SENSEX rose as much as 1,002 points from the day's lowest level and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 22,721 after touching a low of 22,387 in opening deals powered by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, ITC and Larsen & Toubro.

The SENSEX ended 483 points higher at 73,607 and NIFTY50 index advanced 153 points to close at 22,753.

Markets went into oversold zone after four days of consecutive losses triggering a short-covering rally from lower levels, analysts noted.

Most Asian markets ended lower on Monday as investors awaited earnings of mega cap companies and key central bank decisions.

Japan's Nikkei ended fell 0.8%, South Korea's KOSPI dropped 1.5% while China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.2%.

Brent crude futures were hovering around $115 per barrel amid ongoing attacks on Saudi Arabia kept supply concerns in focus.

Attacks continued over the ‌weekend ⁠with Houthis saying they had attacked the Saudi airport and oil facilities on Saturday. Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had ⁠intercepted more missiles and drones.

Buying was visible across board as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Metal index's 2.2% gain, NIFTY Pharma, Healthcare, IT, Private Bank Realty, and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 0.6% and 1.77%.

On the other hand, media and select consumer durable stocks ended lower.

Broader markets outperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 1.19% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 1.38%.

Among the individual shares, Ather Energy advanced 14.13% to close at ₹1,575 after it turned profitable in September quarter.

Ather Energy reported a net profit of ₹1.26 crore compared with a loss of ₹154 crore in the same period last year. In the previous quarter, Ather Energy reported a net loss of ₹51 crore.

The company's revenue from operations jumped 63% to ₹1,464 crore at the end of September quarter from ₹899 crore in the same period last year.

The Bengaluru-based company reported strong operational performance as it reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of ₹11.42 crore against EBITDA loss of ₹132 crore in the year-ago period.

Its EBITDA margin came in at 0.80%.

Apollo Micro Systems advanced as much as 15.3% to hit an intraday high of ₹432 after it reported strong earnings for the July-September quarter of the 2026-27 financial year (Q2 FY27).

Its consolidated net profit (attributable to the owners of the company) stood at ₹46.15 crore during the quarter under review, marking a 48.34% year-on-year (YoY) increase from ₹31.11 crore in the second quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q2 FY26).

Bharat Coking Coal shares surged nearly 7% after it posted a ₹124 crore net profit in the Q2 earnings report, in comparison to a net loss of ₹53 crore in the same period of the previous financial year, according to the official filings. On a sequential basis, the company’s profits surged to their September quarter levels, from a ₹68 crore net loss in the first quarter of FY27.

Dr Reddy's Labs was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock closed 6.6% higher at ₹1,310.90 after its net profit rose 11% to ₹925 crore in the second quarter of current financial year.

JSW Steel, BSE, Adani Ports, Eternal, Max Healthcare, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Grasim, Coal India, Hindalco, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel also rose between 1.34% and 6.28%.

On the flip side, Shriram Finance dropped 4.62% to close at ₹825 after it cut its assets under management (AUM) growth guidance to 15-17% from its earlier estimate of 18%.

Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors PV, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were also among top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth turned positive as 2,063 shares ended higher while 1,525 closed lower on the NSE.