The key equity benchmarks traded with moderate cuts in early trade as investors turned cautious amid uncertainty surrounding US-China trade negotiations, FII inflows, and the upcoming India-US trade talks. Market participants also kept a close watch on the ongoing Q2 earnings season, with key results from State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Grasim Industries, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Adani Enterprises due later this week. The Nifty slipped below the 26,000 mark.
PSU Bank, realty and media shares advanced while private bank and IT shares declined.
At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 247.14 points or 0.29% to 83,691.57. The Nifty 50 index fell 46.30 points or 0.18% to 25,675.40.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.14% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.57%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,876 shares rose and 1,312 shares fell. A total of 230 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 6,769.34 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 7,068.44 crore in the Indian equity market on 31 October 2025, provisional data showed.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Medplus Health Services rallied 5.32% after the company reported a 43.3% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 55.50 crore on 6.5% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,679.33 crore in Q2 FY26 over Q2 FY25.
Bank of Baroda jumped 4.64% after the bank reported a 8.2% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 4,809.39 crore on 1.2% decline in total income to Rs 35,025.76 crore in Q2 FY26 over Q2 FY25.
R R Kabel climbed 5.52% after the company’s consolidated net profit surged 133.1% to Rs 116.26 crore in Q2 FY26, compared with Rs 49.53 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 19.5% YoY to Rs 2,163.77 crore in Q2 FY26.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.35% to 6.560 from the previous close of 6.537.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 88.7825 compared with its close of 88.7050 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2025 settlement rose 0.45% to Rs 121,775.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.04% to 99.76.
The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.02% to 4.101.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2025 settlement rose 29 cents or 0.45% to $65.06 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors digested fresh manufacturing data from China and awaited central bank cues, while Japan’s markets remained closed for a public holiday.
China’s manufacturing momentum softened, with RatingDog’s October Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) coming in at 50.6 — below both expectations of 50.9 and September’s 51.2 reading. Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Friday also indicated a slowdown, with the manufacturing PMI slipping to 49.0, its weakest level in six months.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia began its two-day policy meeting, where it is widely expected to keep rates unchanged after third-quarter inflation came in hotter than anticipated.
On Wall Street, all three major U.S. indexes closed higher Friday, led by tech gains. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.61% to 23,724.96, the S&P 500 added 0.26% to 6,840.20, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.09% to 47,562.87.
Amazon shares surged 9.6% after the company reported a 20% jump in cloud-computing revenue for the third quarter. The streaming giant Netflix added 2.7% after the company announced a 10-for-1 stock split.