Sensex, Nifty Week Ahead: WPI Data, RBI Hike Bets and Nvidia Results in Focus After a Third Weekly Gain

Indian equities head into the week of Nov. 16 to 20, 2026, after a third straight weekly gain for the Nifty 50, its longest winning streak since June, with October wholesale inflation data on Monday and expectations of a Reserve Bank of India rate increase in December now in focus.

The Nifty 50 rose 113.95 points, or 0.46%, last week to close at 25,144, according to The Economic Times, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.7% to 81,592, Upstox News reported. Both benchmarks gave back much of their weekly gains on Friday, Nov. 13, when the Sensex fell 319 points and the Nifty dropped more than 155 points. The India VIX volatility gauge fell 4.87% over the week to 16.62. Mint reported that the benchmarks have climbed nearly 9.7% over the past month.

Inflation takes center stage

Friday's pullback followed data showing India's consumer price inflation accelerated to 6.09% in October from 5.54% in September, according to figures released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and cited by The Economic Times. The reading breached the upper limit of the RBI's 2% to 6% tolerance band for the first time in two years and marked the 12th straight month of rising consumer prices.

The October wholesale price index is due on Monday, Nov. 16. Market participants expect wholesale inflation of about 12.1% year on year, up from 11.39% in September, Upstox reported. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, told The Economic Times that the market is likely to begin pricing in RBI rate hike expectations this week. Most economists expect a 25-basis-point increase at the central bank's December meeting, the newspaper said, while a few say a 50-basis-point move cannot be ruled out.

Foreign buying versus domestic selling

Foreign institutional investors bought a net ₹33,342.45 crore of Indian shares in the cash market in the week ended Nov. 13, including the special Muhurat trading session, taking November's net buying to ₹79,302.47 crore, according to Upstox. Domestic institutional investors sold a net ₹24,892.12 crore over the same period. FIIs were net buyers for a 10th consecutive session on Friday, purchasing ₹5,736.55 crore of shares, The Economic Times reported, after selling a record ₹2.95 lakh crore in the first 10 months of 2026.

Banks led last week's gains. The Nifty Bank rose 3.3% to 61,034, finishing about 1.1% below its record high of 61,764, while the Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 7.5%, Upstox said. Punjab National Bank gained 12.8%, Bank of Baroda 9.4% and State Bank of India 6.0%. The IT index fell 3.1%, ending a six-week winning streak, as investors reassessed the global artificial intelligence trade. Broader markets outperformed, with the Nifty Midcap 150 up 1.5% and the Nifty Smallcap 250 up 1.9%.

Oil, the rupee and Nvidia

January Brent crude settled at $95 a barrel on Nov. 13, down 2.5% for the week, according to Upstox, though The Economic Times said fresh attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz had lifted prices from their midweek lows. Goodreturns reported that the rupee ended the week near 94.23 per U.S. dollar.

Global events will also matter. Nvidia reports quarterly results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, its first since the resignation of chief executive Jensen Huang, which The Economic Times said could move the global AI trade and, in turn, flows into India. The minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Oct. 27-28 meeting are due on Wednesday, and October U.S. retail sales are scheduled for Tuesday.

Technical levels analysts are watching

Analysts cited by the publications identified nearby levels for the Nifty. Milan Vaishnav, writing in The Economic Times, put immediate resistance at 25,425 and 25,550 and support at 24,850 and 24,600. Upstox identified the recent high of 25,424 as resistance and Friday's low of 25,054 as the first reference point on the downside. Ravi Singh, chief research officer at Master Capital Services, told Mint that the outlook remains positive as long as the index holds above 24,750.

Market breadth cooled slightly but remained firm: 42 of the 50 Nifty stocks, or 84%, were trading above their 50-day moving averages on Nov. 13, compared with 88% a week earlier, according to Upstox.