It appears the Diwali festival has come early for Dalal Street bulls, as Indian stock market remained higher for the third straight session on Friday, October 17. Banking stocks continued to lead the key indices, pushing them to their highest levels since October 2024. In addition, FMCG stocks, along with a surge in auto stocks, supported the markets in crossing key levels.
Though the front-line indices closed the session higher, they gave up most of the earlier gains, with Nifty 50 settling with a 0.49% gain at 25,709 level, marking its highest level since October 2024 and the S&P BSE Sensex also rose 0.58% to reach 83,985 points. The recent run up has supported both indices record weekly gains of over 1.6%, their best in last 2 months.
In terms of sector-wise performance, the Nifty FMCG index stood out, rallying 1.37%, followed by the Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma indices, which gained 0.70% each.
The Nifty Auto index also picked up momentum, ending 0.66% higher, while the Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Realty indices closed marginally higher. Nifty IT was the worst performer among the key sectoral indices, falling 1.63%, followed by Nifty Media, which lost 1.56% of its value.
Asian Paints, Delhivery, Radico Khaitan, M&M among key gainers
In terms of top performers, Whirlpool of India led the list, surging 12% to ₹1,384 apiece—its biggest single-day jump in recent times. The rally followed the company’s announcement of several major agreements, including Brand License and Technology License Agreements with its parent entities, aimed at strengthening long-term growth and innovation while ensuring continued support from Whirlpool Corporation.
Adani Power, part of the Adani Group, was another top performer among Nifty 500 stocks, rising 5.5% to ₹166 after reports indicated that the government had approved the company to lay an overhead transmission line connecting its Godda Ultra Super Critical Thermal Power Plant to the Indian grid via a Line-In Line-Out (LILO) arrangement of the Kahalgaon A–Maithon B 400 KV line.
Meanwhile, Ola Electric Mobility continued its winning run, as investors appeared to welcome the company’s entry into energy storage systems with the launch of Ola Shakti. The stock gained 4% today to close at ₹57.23 and ended the week with a surge of 15.24%, snapping a four-week losing streak.
A sharp drop in crude oil prices also boosted Asian Paints, which jumped 4% to ₹2,507.50 apiece. Other key gainers included Delhivery, Radico Khaitan, PG Electroplast, M&M, Emami, and Bharti Airtel, which all rose between 1.5% and 2.5%.
Wipro, Swiggy, PB Fintech and more take a hit
Wipro was among the top laggards, with the stock falling 6% to ₹240.90 apiece following the company’s September quarter results. These numbers prompted brokerages to maintain their bearish outlook on the stock, further compounding the selling pressure.
The decline in Wipro also spilled over to other major IT stocks, with Infosys closing 2% lower after its Q2 results. JSW Infrastructure was another top laggard among Nifty 500 stocks, falling 3.5% to ₹298 apiece.
Swiggy also came under pressure following below-par results from its rival Eternal, leading to a 3% drop in the stock. Other notable losers included Welspun Living, CreditAccess Grameen, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Alok Industries, MphasiS, Coforge, PB Fintech, Hyundai Motor India, and Suzlon Energy, all of which closed with losses exceeding 3%.
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