Sensex Gains 384 Points for a Fifth Straight Day as Nifty Ends at 23,960; Small Caps Jump 2%, IT Stocks Fall

Indian stock benchmarks closed higher for a fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, as gains in media, realty, metal and consumer stocks outweighed a decline in information technology shares. Investors also tracked the results of the U.S. midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.

The BSE Sensex rose 383.55 points, or 0.50%, to close at 77,301.40, and the NSE Nifty 50 gained 149.75 points, or 0.63%, to 23,960.60, according to Business Standard. The market closed at 3:30 p.m. India time, which was 5:00 a.m. ET.

Broader market outperforms

Mid- and small-cap stocks outpaced the benchmarks. The Nifty MidCap 100 index rose 1.55% to 59,505.50, and the Nifty SmallCap 100 index climbed 2% to 19,026.40, according to Upstox. Capital Market reported that the Nifty MidCap 150 index gained 1.60% and the Nifty SmallCap 250 index added 1.97%.

Market breadth favored gainers. Of 3,704 stocks traded on the NSE, 2,720 advanced, 884 declined and 100 were unchanged, ET Now reported. It said 71 stocks hit a fresh 52-week high and 74 hit a 52-week low. The India VIX volatility index fell 3.24% to 15.21, according to Capital Market.

Sector performance

Nifty IT, which fell 1.5%, was the only sectoral index to close lower, according to Upstox. The top-performing sectors were Nifty Media, up 5.15%, Nifty Realty, up 2.85%, Nifty Metal, up 2.8%, Nifty Consumer Durables, up 2.04%, and Nifty Oil and Gas, up 1.54%.

Within the Nifty 50, 36 stocks rose and 14 fell. Bharat Electronics was the top gainer, rising 4.71%, followed by Adani Enterprises at 4.47%, Titan Company at 4.22%, Jio Financial Services at 3.73% and Max Healthcare Institute at 3.53%, Upstox reported. The biggest decliners were Tata Consultancy Services, down 2.52%, HCL Technologies, down 2.37%, BSE, down 1.75%, Infosys, down 1.73%, and Eternal, down 1.42%.

What moved the market

Upstox attributed the gains partly to easing crude oil prices, foreign fund inflows and a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields. Capital Market reported that Brent crude for December settlement fell $1.95, or 1.88%, to $101.65 a barrel.

Exchange data showed foreign institutional investors bought a net 6,836.81 crore rupees of Indian shares on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors sold a net 3,678.85 crore rupees, according to Upstox.

Capital Market said the yield on India's 10-year benchmark government bond declined to 7.223% from 7.297% at the previous close, and the rupee was quoted at about 94.59 per dollar, compared with its previous close of 94.75. MCX gold futures for December 4 settlement rose 2.37% to 1,42,789 rupees.

Services PMI

On the economic front, the HSBC India Services PMI was revised to 55.8 for October 2026 from a flash estimate of 56.2, above September's 55.2 and the fastest expansion since June, Capital Market reported. The HSBC India Composite PMI was 56.2, down from a flash reading of 56.7 but above September's 55.9. Input cost inflation in the services sector eased to its lowest level in more than six years.

Global backdrop and outlook

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.4%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 2.12% and South Korea's Kospi closed 0.62% higher, while Japan's Nikkei fell, according to Upstox.

Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental research at SBI Securities, said in comments carried by Business Standard that market direction will depend on quarterly earnings, crude oil trends, developments in the Middle East, U.S. bond yields and foreign institutional flows. Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities, identified 23,850 to 23,870 as an immediate support zone for the Nifty and 24,050 to 24,070 as a key hurdle.