Sensex Nifty October 13, 2026: HCLTech Lights Up IT as the Nifty Closes at Its High

One results announcement and one comment from North Block. That was roughly the recipe for Sensex Nifty October 13, 2026, a session where the Nifty 50 rose 358.60 points, or 1.60%, to 22,721.95 and closed exactly at its high for the day. The Sensex gained 1,109.10 points, or 1.54%, to 73,033.78.

Educational content only. Not investment advice. Nifty and sector figures are from NSE’s daily index file and stock prices from NSE’s bhavcopy for October 13, 2026; the Sensex, HCLTech results and macro data are from the reports linked below.

Sensex Nifty October 13: IT did the heavy lifting

Nifty IT jumped 5.22% to 29,830.10, also closing at its intraday high, per NSE’s index file for October 13. Business Standard called it the IT index’s best day in 17 months, and said both benchmarks posted their biggest one-day gain in four months.

The trigger was HCLTech. The company reported Q2 net profit up 21.2% year on year at ₹5,132 crore and revenue up 11.5% at ₹35,620 crore, with operating margin at 18.2%, according to Business Standard. On NSE the stock closed at ₹1,326.00, up 8.42%, the top Nifty gainer of the day.

The rest of the pack followed. TCS rose 6.79% to ₹2,269.30, Tech Mahindra 4.93% and Infosys 4.13% to ₹1,062.10. In our view, this was investors deciding that the worst fears about IT demand had been priced in. Whether that holds is a question for the next few quarters, not one day.

The LTCG remark and the macro backdrop

Business Standard also pointed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark that the government was willing to hear stakeholders’ views on long-term capital gains tax. Nothing was promised, but the market took it as a friendlier signal.

BusinessLine added a few other pieces:

• The rupee gained 49 paise, its third straight up day, to close near ₹95.4 a dollar.
• Brent eased about 2% to around $104.5 a barrel, still high.
• September retail inflation came in at 5.54%.
• The IMF raised its FY27 growth forecast for India to 7% from 6.4%.

Breadth and the other sectors

• Nifty Realty: up 2.46%. Nifty Financial Services: up 1.46%. Nifty PSU Bank: up 1.44%. Nifty FMCG: up 1.40%.
• Nifty Bank: up 1.03% at 55,481.05.
• Nifty Pharma: flat, the only major sector that didn’t rise.
• Nifty Midcap 100: up 1.06%. Nifty Smallcap 100: up just 0.11%.
• India VIX: down 7.43% to 14.12.

Among EQ-series stocks on NSE, 1,620 advanced and 1,038 declined, per the bhavcopy. Within the Nifty, Shriram Finance was a non-IT standout, up 6.31% at ₹988.00, and Hindustan Unilever rose 3.01%. Only four Nifty stocks fell, and none by more than 1%: Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.99%), Eternal (down 0.79%), Maruti Suzuki (down 0.62%) and Max Healthcare (down 0.57%).

The contrast with the day before is the interesting part. Banks dragged the market on the RBI’s liquidity steps in our Dalal Street recap for October 12; a day later, an earnings beat changed the mood completely. That is results season for you. Our guide on how to analyse quarterly results walks through the margin and guidance numbers worth checking when a company surprises like this.

Sources: NSE index closing values, October 13, 2026; NSE equity bhavcopy for October 13, 2026; Business Standard; BusinessLine.

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.