Nifty crosses 25,700 to hit a fresh one-year high; still 500 points away from the all-time high of 26,277

In the last session before the long break due to Diwali, the benchmark index Nifty 50 has hit a new one-year high, currently trading at 25,734. The index rose by 148 points or 0.58% from yesterday's closing. 

Positive global cues, with US and Russia ties thawing, as US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to post about his telephonic call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “it was a very productive one”. Trump said that he would be meeting Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss the ongoing war with Ukraine and trade between the two nations. 

Meanwhile, even positive developments in the India-US bilateral talks boosted investor sentiment, and strong Q2 performances have bolstered the market mood.

In the past three sessions, the Nifty50 index added 562 points, adding 2.12%. As per data, the index rose by 1.61% over a month and soared by 7.90% over six months. Over the span of the calendar year to date, the 50-constituent index added 2004.95 points, rising by 8.44%. On a year-on-year basis, the rise is still muted, as it added 1002 points or 4.05%. 

Yet, the index is 508 points away from its historic high of 26,277.35 on September 27, 2024. 

Asian Paints led the charge of the Nifty index, rising by 4.88%, continuing its three-day winning streak after the company announced it to undertake manufacturing and exporting white cement and white cement clinker, with an initial capacity of 2,65,000 tons per annum in the Fujairah Free Zone, UAE. Bharti Airtel took the second spot in today’s trade, after announcing major deals as partnerships with Google and IBM. The telco’s stocks rose by 3%, with its share price trading at Rs 2026.10. 

Apollo Hospitals rose by 2.21%, while hitting a fresh 52-week high of Rs 8030 in today’s trade. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 6001 on March 3, 2025. As per its latest corporate announcement, the company had inter alia approved the acquisition of 85,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10/- each of Apollo Gleneagles PET-CT Private Ltd (AGPCL) held by its existing shareholder Parkway Healthcare (Mauritius) Pte Ltd, representing 50% of the total paid-up equity share capital of AGPCL.

On the other hand, Wipro, which dipped sharply by 4.54%, is currently trading at Rs 242.29 apiece. Wipro recorded positive Q2FY2026 results, with profit increasing by 1.2% to ₹3,246.2 crore from Q2FY2025’s ₹3,208.8 crore. Total revenue grew by 1.8% to ₹22,697.3 crore, while IT services revenue also rose by 2% to ₹22,640.5 crore. 

Other IT heavyweights dragged the otherwise bull run, with Infosys and Tech Mahindra being laggards in Friday’s session. Even Eternal, which recorded its Q2 results yesterday, saw its stocks decline for another session, now down by 2.13%. Eternal posted a strong performance in the September quarter (Q2FY26), led by robust growth across its quick commerce and food delivery businesses. Consolidated adjusted revenue jumped 172% year-on-year (85% sequentially) to ₹13,968 crore, while B2C net order value (NOV) surged 57% YoY to ₹23,164 crore.

As per sector-wise trends, Nifty Media and Nifty IT were the top laggards, dropping by 1.52% and 1.33% respectively. Nifty FMCG continued its rally, emerging as the top gainer, rising by 1.44%. 

Broader markets were in a mix, bucking the positive trend seen in benchmark indicators as the midcap indices were trading in the red, while the smallcap indices rose marginally.