Indian equity markets opened on a mixed note on Friday, November 6, 2026, on the occasion of Dhanteras. The Sensex traded around 150 points higher, while the Nifty and Bank Nifty recorded marginal declines. Buying interest in IT stocks supported the market, but weakness in the metal, realty and other sectors limited gains.
The Indian stock market witnessed subdued trading ahead of Diwali, following Thursday's sharp rally. In early trade on Friday, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex gained around 150 points, or 0.19%, to trade at 79,460.01. Meanwhile, the National Stock Exchange's Nifty 50 declined 16.65 points to approximately 24,519.95.
Banking stocks also remained under pressure. The Bank Nifty fell 199.30 points, or 0.34%, to trade at 57,574.35.
On Thursday, the domestic equity market had recorded substantial gains. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty advanced 576 points to reach 24,536.60.
After six consecutive trading sessions of gains, investors turned cautious on Friday, with profit-booking emerging in select stocks. However, the impact of the sharp declines in overseas equity markets on Indian benchmarks remained more limited than anticipated in early trade.
IT stocks witnessed the best buying interest during Friday's early trading session. The Nifty IT index gained approximately 2.28%. The media sector also recorded a marginal increase of 0.17%.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shares advanced around 2.32% to Rs 2,553.60. HCL Technologies gained 2.15%, while Infosys rose 2.09%.
Outside the IT sector, Mahindra & Mahindra shares climbed 2.29%, while telecom major Bharti Airtel gained 1.85%.
Although banking stocks were broadly under pressure, shares of some major private-sector lenders traded in positive territory. HDFC Bank gained approximately 0.92%, while ICICI Bank advanced 0.67%. Buying in these heavyweight stocks provided support to the Sensex.
However, selling pressure across other sectors prevented the Nifty from registering significant gains.
The metal sector faced the steepest pressure during Friday's early trading session. The Nifty Metal index declined approximately 2.04%.
The realty sector fell 1.13%, while the PSU Bank index declined 1.15%. The oil and gas index also dropped approximately 1.13%. The auto sector traded 0.34% lower.
Among major stocks, Hindalco Industries declined around 3.56%. Shriram Finance fell 2.81%, while Asian Paints dropped 2.57%. Bajaj Finance shares also traded approximately 1.99% lower.
Selling pressure in these stocks weighed on the broader market. While IT companies supported the Sensex, weakness in metal and financial stocks contributed to continued volatility.
While Indian equity benchmarks avoided a sharp decline, several major Asian markets witnessed significant losses on Friday morning.
South Korea's KOSPI index fell more than 8% in early trading. Following the sharp decline, the exchange activated circuit breakers and halted trading for approximately 20 minutes.
Japan's Nikkei index also dropped around 6%, while Taiwan's stock market recorded a decline of more than 8%.
The sell-off across Asian markets followed heavy selling on Wall Street on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite closed approximately 5.5% lower, while the S&P 500 declined around 4.4%.
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