Indices snap six-day rally as trade deal buzz fades

The domestic equity benchmarks ended lower on Thursday, snapping a six-day winning streak, as broad-based selling weighed on sentiment. Except for metal and telecom stocks, all major sectors were under pressure.

The session began on a positive note, tracking upbeat global cues, but gains proved short-lived. As the day progressed, profit booking intensified, dragging the Nifty to an intraday low of 25,718.20. The market's early optimism faded sharply in the final hour after the government declined to confirm reports of a potential US-India trade deal, leading to a wave of selling across frontline indices.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 344.52 points or 0.41% to 84,211.88. The Nifty 50 index lost 96.25 points or 0.37% to 25,795.15. In the past six consecutive sessions, the Sensex gained 3.07% and the Nifty rose 2.96%.

Hindustan Unilever (down 3.20%), Adani Ports & SEZ (down 1.65%) and HDFC Bank (down 1.41%) were major drags.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.26% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.19%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,853 shares rose and 2,323 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.21% to 11.59.

Economy:

The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index eased to 59.9 in October from 61.0 in September. The Manufacturing PMI Output Index rose to 62.4 from 61.1 in September. The broader Manufacturing PMI also improved to 58.4, up from 57.7 last month. However, the services sector saw some cooling, as the HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index slipped to 58.8 from 60.9 in September.

Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said: The HSBC flash manufacturing PMI picked up a tad, likely on the back of GST rate cuts which are buoying domestic demand and curbing cost pressures. New orders and output, both, are above the average Jan-Jul levels. However, the drag from US tariff continues to show up in new export orders and future optimism, which remain below the Jan-Jul levels.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.05% to 6.542 from the previous close of 6.546.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.7850 compared with its close of 87.8850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2025 settlement fell 1.80% to Rs 121,882.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.08% to 99.02.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.40% to 4.006.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2025 settlement rose 5 cents or 0.08% to $66.04 a barrel.

Global Markets:

European market traded lower on Friday. Investors will be monitoring a swathe of reports today, including from Saab, ENI, Sanofi, truckmaker Volvo Group, and Porsche.

Asian stocks ended higher following a White House announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold talks the following week.

U.S. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly confirmed that President Trump will travel to Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, with media reports stating he will meet President Xi next Thursday. This meeting is set to occur after Trump speaks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.

In Japan, the core inflation rate accelerated to 2.9% in September, marking the first increase since May and rising from 2.7% in August. Japan's core inflation metric excludes fresh food prices but includes energy costs. The country's headline inflation also climbed to 2.9% from 2.7% the previous month.

Overnight, the three major averages closed higher. The S&P 500 climbed 0.58% to close at 6,738.44, boosted by tech stocks, after a batch of strong earnings results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 144.20 points, or 0.31%, to finish at 46,734.61. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 0.89% to settle at 22,941.80, seeing support from the gains in Nvidia, Broadcom and Amazon. A nearly 3% jump in shares of fellow artificial intelligence player Oracle also boosted sentiment.

New Listing:

Shares of Midwest closed at Rs 1,141.10 on the BSE, a premium of 7.15% over the issue price of Rs 1,065. The stock debuted at Rs 1,165.10, marking a 9.4% listing gain. It moved between an intraday high of Rs 1,189.50 and a low of Rs 1,123.60. A total of 5.68 lakh shares changed hands on the exchange during the session.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Colgate Palmolive (India) slipped 2.23% after the company reported 17.09% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 327.51 crore on 6.33% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 1,507.24 crore in Q2 FY26 over Q2 FY25.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.28%. The company's Minerals & Metals (M&M) vertical has secured multiple orders across India, with contract values ranging between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore, as per the company's internal classification.

Sagar Cements dropped 5.85%. The company's consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 42.31 crore in Q2 FY26 compared with net loss of Rs 55.56 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations jumped 26.68% YoY to Rs 601.86 crore in Q2 September 2025.

Refex Industries advanced 2.59% after bagging an order worth Rs 300 crore from a large mining entity in Jharkhand for removal of overburden (OB), excavation, and transportation of coal.

PTC India Financial Services soared 13.48% after the NBFC's consolidated net profit jumped 86.18% to Rs 88.14 crore in Q2 FY26 from Rs 47.34 crore reported in Q2 FY25. However, total revenue from operations declined 19.32% year on year to Rs 131.84 crore in the quarter ended 30 September 2025.

South India Paper Mills surged 16.14% after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 2.81 crore in Q2 FY26 compared with net loss of Rs 1.21 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 9.62% YoY to Rs 111.56 crore in Q2 September 2025.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical rose 0.95%. The company has bagged an order worth Rs 445 crore from NREDCAP to implement solar rooftop systems across 5 divisions in Andhra Pradesh- Kovur, Tirupati Rural, Puttur, Chittoor (O) and Chittoor (R).

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC declined 2.14%. The company's consolidated net profit marginally fell 0.42% to Rs 241.32 crore in Q2 FY26 as against Rs 242.34 crore in Q2 FY25. However, revenue from operations jumped 8.74% year on year to Rs 461.32 crore in Q2 FY26.

Refex Industries rallied 3.76% after bagging an order worth Rs 300 crore from a large mining entity in Jharkhand for removal of overburden (OB), excavation, and transportation of coal.

Titan Intech hit an upper limit of 5% after the company signed a strategic tech partnership with MIC Co. Ltd. of South Korea. The deal aims to develop and localize Mini-LED, MIP (Micro Integrated Package), and SMD (Surface Mounted Device) display systems in India. The company said it signed an MoU with MIC for joint R&D, customization, and technology transfer. The project is valued at $1.53 million.

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