Dalal Street 10-Session Wrap: October 5 to 16, 2026, From a 21-Month Low to 23,146

Ten sessions, two very different halves. This Dalal Street 10-session wrap covers October 5 to 16, 2026. Over that stretch the Nifty 50 rose from 22,421.95 (its October 1 close) to 23,146.15, a gain of 724.20 points or 3.23%. The Sensex went from 71,909.70 to 74,729.27, up 2,819.57 points or about 3.92%. In between, the Nifty hit a 21-month low.

The Dalal Street 10-session wrap, day by day

Six up days, four down. The two worst came back to back, right after the policy meeting.

First half: the RBI and oil call the shots

The fortnight opened with a relief rally. According to India Today’s October 5 closing report, both the Sensex and the Nifty had just logged their eighth straight weekly decline. Then, on October 7, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% and changed its stance to “calibrated tightening”.

On October 8, with Brent crude up 4.25% to $104.5 a barrel (as reported by ThePrint/PTI), the Nifty fell 1.64% to 22,231.80. Only 281 EQ-series stocks on NSE advanced that day, against 2,381 that declined.

Second half: results season takes over

TCS’s second-quarter numbers landed before the October 9 session, and from there IT did the heavy lifting. HCLTech’s results powered the October 13 rally, and Tech Mahindra’s Q2 sent it to the top of the gainers on October 16. Over the ten sessions Nifty IT climbed from 28,304.70 to 31,924.10, up 12.79%.

The RBI’s October 12 rupee package, which included a dollar window for state-owned oil companies and a higher daily cash reserve requirement for banks (Business Standard), knocked bank stocks for a day. Our recap of October 12 has the detail. They recovered: by October 16, Nifty Private Bank was up 3.76% for the period and Nifty Bank 2.56%.

Nifty IT rose 12.79% while the Nifty Smallcap 100 managed 0.37%. Keep that gap in mind before calling this a broad recovery.

Sector scorecard, October 1 close to October 16 close

• Leaders: Nifty IT +12.79%, Media +6.59%, Private Bank +3.76%, Financial Services +3.38%, Bank +2.56%
• Middle: PSU Bank +1.98%, FMCG +1.89%, Auto +1.51%
• Laggards: Realty -1.08%, Pharma -2.01%, Healthcare -2.56%, Metal -2.63%
• Broader market: Midcap 100 +0.68%, Smallcap 100 +0.37%

Midcaps and smallcaps gained less than a quarter of what the Nifty did.

The Nifty stocks that moved most

Comparing NSE closing prices on October 1 and October 16, 29 of the 50 Nifty stocks ended higher. IT dominated the top: TCS rose 18.80% (₹2,075.00 to ₹2,465.00), Tech Mahindra 16.76% (₹1,533.00 to ₹1,790.00) and Trent 14.68% (₹2,580.00 to ₹2,958.70), followed by Infosys (+12.19%), HCLTech (+11.01%) and BSE (+10.41%).

At the other end, Max Healthcare fell 10.09% (₹940.95 to ₹846.00). InterGlobe Aviation lost 4.93%, Adani Enterprises 4.43%, SBI Life 3.76%, Hindalco 3.59% and Nestle India 3.23%.

What we take away

Three things stand out to us. The RBI’s change of stance matters more than the 25 basis points, so every inflation print will now be read for hints of another hike. Oil near or above $100 a barrel never left the background. And the recovery was real but narrow, carried by IT and the big private lenders.

The daily recaps run from Sensex and Nifty on October 5 to Nifty on October 16.

Sources: NSE index closing files and equity bhavcopies, October 1 to 16, 2026; RBI Monetary Policy Statement, October 7, 2026; ThePrint/PTI, October 8; Business Standard, October 9 and 12; India Today, October 5 (Sensex start level); BusinessLine, October 16 (Sensex end level and Tech Mahindra results).

Disclaimer: This article is for information and education only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Please do your own research or consult a SEBI-registered adviser before investing.