Sensex Rebound on October 26, 2026: Up 483 Points as Metals and Pharma Lead

The Sensex rebound on Monday, October 26, came late and it came from the bottom of the day. The 30-share index closed 482.92 points, or 0.66%, higher at 73,606.75 after touching an intraday low of 72,514.57, BusinessLine reported. That ended a four-session losing streak. The Nifty 50 added 153.20 points, or 0.68%, to 22,753.20, according to NSE index data.

How the Sensex rebound built through the day

This was not a gap-up rally. The Nifty opened at 22,524.40, below Friday’s close of 22,600, and slipped to 22,387.35 before buyers stepped in. It finished at 22,753.20, which was also its high for the day, so the index closed right at the top of a 366-point range. The Sensex also ended at its day’s high.

Breadth was decent. In the Nifty, 37 stocks rose and 13 fell, as per NSE’s data. The broader market did better than the headline indices, which makes sense after last week’s beating:

• Nifty Midcap 100: up 1.19% at 56,465.40
• Nifty Smallcap 100: up 1.38% at 17,985
• Nifty Bank: up only 0.15% at 54,366.70

Metals and pharma did the lifting

Nifty Metal was the best sector, up 2.21%, and all 15 of its stocks closed higher. Nifty Pharma gained 1.76% and Nifty Healthcare 1.77%. On the other side, Nifty Media slipped 0.34% and Nifty Consumer Durables 0.21%. All these changes are the day’s move in each NSE sectoral index.

Stock-specific news drove a lot of it. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was the top Nifty gainer, up nearly 7% after strong second-quarter numbers and a positive brokerage note, CNBC-TV18 reported. Shriram Finance was the biggest Nifty loser, down nearly 5% after it cut its AUM growth guidance. Infosys closed over 1% higher even though its Q2 results missed expectations. With results season in full swing, our list of Q2 results due this week is worth keeping open.

FIIs sold, DIIs bought more

Foreign money stayed on the sell side. Provisional exchange data on NSE’s FII/DII page shows FIIs/FPIs bought ₹9,324.90 crore and sold ₹10,787.39 crore, a net sale of ₹1,462.49 crore. DIIs bought ₹17,389.57 crore and sold ₹14,780 crore, a net purchase of ₹2,609.57 crore. So domestic buying covered the foreign selling with about ₹1,147 crore to spare, as CNBC-TV18 noted. We saw the same pattern all of last week, covered in our piece on FPI selling in the week to October 23.

The macro picture didn’t help. Brent crude fell 1.60% to $114.8 a barrel but is still very high, and the rupee weakened past 95 to the dollar. BusinessLine put the provisional close at 95.22, down 29 paise on the day.

What it means for the next few sessions

One green day after four red ones doesn’t make a trend. India VIX actually rose 1.73% to 17.15, so traders were still paying up for protection. The Nifty is about 2.6% above its 52-week low of 22,179.90 and 11.79% below where it stood a year ago, on NSE’s numbers.

Vatsal Bhuva of LKP Securities told Business Standard that 22,300-22,400 is the support zone to watch, and that a move above 22,800 could open the way to 23,000, which he sees as strong resistance. We would watch two things: whether FII selling eases, and whether midcaps can hold Monday’s bounce. Our week-ahead note covers the other triggers.

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