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Market Commentary - Mid-Session
23-Oct-2025 14:33

Barometers trade with decent gains; realty shares in demand

The headline equity indices traded with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade, supported by robust quarterly earnings and renewed optimism over festive season demand. Investor sentiment was further lifted by recent tax cuts and policy measures, fuelling expectations that corporate profits will strengthen in the second half of FY26.

Nifty traded above the 25,900 level. Realty shares advanced after declining in the past trading session.

At 14:27 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rallied 256.25 points or 0.30% to 84,683.29. The Nifty 50 index rose 59.75 points or 0.23% to 25,928.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.21% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.17%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,945 shares rose and 2,215 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, was advanced 4.69% to 11.83.

Economy:

The infrastructure output in India rose 3% from the previous year in September of 2025, slowing from the upwardly revised 6.5% increase in August, which was the sharpest pace of growth in over one year.

Production fell for coal, crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products, as the US continued to pressure India to halt the intake of Russian crude energy commodities, which pressured domestic consumption and export demand for refineries and processers.

In turn, electric power output also slowed. Still, construction inputs were more robust, with cement output holding loosely unchanged and steel production accelerating.

Buzzing index:

The Nifty Realty index jumped 0.67% to 943.70. The index declined 0.09% in the past trading session.

Phoenix Mills (up 2.65%), Brigade Enterprises (up 2.07%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 1.61%), DLF (up 0.80%), Godrej Properties (up 0.25%) and Lodha Developers (up 0.10%) advanced.

On the other hand, Anant Raj (down 2.38%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.12%) and Sobha (down 0.73%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.35% to 6.531 from the previous close of 6.507.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.8725 compared with its close of 87.9300 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2025 settlement gained 1.44% to Rs 123,612.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.16% to 98.83.

The United States 10-year bond yield jumped 0.89% to 3.987.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2025 settlement surged $2.76 or 4.41% to $65.35 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vardhman Textiles surged 8.02%. The company has reported 4.8% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 187.03 crore on a 0.9% fall in revenue to Rs 2,480.10 crore in Q2 FY26 as compared with Q2 FY26.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) added 1.48% to Rs 2,630.70 after the company's consolidated net profit increased 3.81% to Rs 2,694 crore on 1.50% jump in total income to Rs 16,388 crore in Q2 FY26 over Q2 FY25.