| The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in the early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,650 mark. IT, media and metal shares declined, while FMCG stocks advanced. At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 455.39 points or 0.55% to 83,923.05. The Nifty 50 index rose 110.25 points or 0.44% to 25,682.45. The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.45% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.44%. The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,630 shares rose and 2,397 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, was rose 6.09% to 11.53. Gainers & Losers: Asian Paints (up 4%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.94%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.90%), ITC (up 1.84%) and Max Healthcare Institute (up 1.93%) were the major Nifty50 gainers. Wipro (down 5.49%), Infosys (down 2.30%), Eternal (down 2.11%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.68%) and Tata Steel (down 1.39%) were the major Nifty50 losers. Stocks in Spotlight: JSW Infrastructure declined 4.22% after the company's consolidated net profit fell 2.8% to Rs 361.24 crore in Q2 FY26 compared with Rs 371.51 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations jumped 26.4% YoY to Rs 1265.59 crore in Q2 FY26. Punjab & Sind Bank declined 1.59%. The bank's standalone net profit jumped 22.92% to Rs 294.52 crore on 8.89% increase in total income to Rs 3,373.28 crore in Q2 FY26 over Q2 FY25. Profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 357.39 crore in Q2 FY26, registering growth of 16.29% YoY. Global Markets: European markets traded firmly in the red on Friday as investors awaited key inflation data from the region. Asia-Pacific markets opened weaker Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street as fears over the banking sector and trade tensions intensified. On the data front, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports posted a sharp rebound in September, jumping 6.9% from a year earlier and reversing an 11.3% fall in August. In the U.S., shares of regional lenders plunged on Thursday amid fears of hidden loan losses. Zions Bancorporation dropped 13% after revealing a $50 million third-quarter loss tied to two loans from its California division, while Western Alliance Bancorporation fell 11% after filing a fraud lawsuit against Cantor Group V, LLC. The sell-off weighed broadly on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 301.07 points, or 0.7%, to 45,952.24 after briefly gaining 170 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 lost 0.6% to 6,629.07, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5% to 22,562.54. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |