Equity benchmarks opened higher on Tuesday, shrugging off weak Asian cues, as technology stocks led early gains. The , which closed at 71,924.68 on Monday, opened at 71,951.73 and climbed to 72,482.30, up 557.62 points or 0.78 per cent. The 50 opened at 22,364.15 against its previous close of 22,363.35 and advanced to 22,533.80, gaining 170.45 points or 0.76 per cent, as of 9.43 am on October 13, 2026.
TCS led Nifty gainers, rising 4.16 per cent to ₹2,213.40 from its previous close of ₹2,125.00. HCL Technologies gained 3.81 per cent to ₹1,269.60 against ₹1,223.00, while Tech Mahindra added 2.20 per cent to ₹1,503.30 from ₹1,471.00. Nestle India rose 2.12 per cent to ₹1,352.80 from ₹1,324.70, and Trent gained 1.65 per cent to ₹2,961.00 from ₹2,913.00.
On the losing side, NTPC fell 0.79 per cent to ₹307.55 from ₹310.00. Max Healthcare declined 0.78 per cent to ₹859.20 from ₹865.95. Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped 0.46 per cent to ₹441.35 from ₹443.40, TMPV fell 0.40 per cent to ₹283.30 from ₹284.45, and Power Grid eased 0.34 per cent to ₹248.15 from ₹249.00.
The bounce came against persistent macro headwinds. India’s retail inflation surged to 5.54 per cent in September from 4.82 per cent in August, with food inflation jumping sharply to 7.74 per cent. “With rising food inflation and Brent crude trading consistently above $100, a rate hike by the RBI in December is a foregone conclusion now… This will be margin accretive for banks,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, warned that “persistent price pressures could strengthen the case for further monetary tightening and keep borrowing costs higher for longer,” with rate-sensitive sectors, banking, automobiles and real estate, most at risk.
Crude oil remained elevated. Brent futures were at $105.42, down 1.15 per cent, while WTI stood at $92.63, down 1.18 per cent, as markets weighed Russian diesel supply expectations against ongoing Middle East tensions. Houthi missile strikes have shut Riyadh’s international airport, with the White House weighing a military response. “Any further escalation could disrupt regional energy supplies, push crude prices higher and trigger renewed volatility across global financial markets,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.
Global sentiment was fragile. Wall Street closed mixed overnight, the Dow rose 0.38 per cent to 51,850, the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq fell 0.44 per cent, as Micron dropped 3.9 per cent on reports of rapid progress by Chinese chipmaker CXMT Corp in next-generation DRAM production. The US 10-year Treasury yield held near 5.3 per cent, with the 30-year hitting 5.70 per cent, its highest since 2002. The dollar index climbed to around 102.5, an 18-month high.
Asia bore the brunt of the semiconductor rout. South Korea’s KOSPI crashed 6.5 per cent, falling below 6,000 against a 52-week high of 9,358, triggering a sidecar. Samsung Electronics slumped 7.5 per cent and SK Hynix plunged 9 per cent, as foreign investors offloaded 8.46 trillion won in just the first 12 trading days of October. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.5 per cent. Separately, Tencent announced plans to raise at least $4.5 billion through bonds to fund artificial intelligence investments.
Back home, FIIs sold equities worth ₹1,708 crore on Monday while DIIs purchased over ₹3,045 crore. “With net inflows into mutual funds touching a record high of ₹38,307 crore in September, the DIIs will continue to absorb all the selling from FIIs,” said Dr. Vijayakumar. The rupee appreciated 96 paise to close at 95.77 against the dollar, its strongest performance among Asian peers, after RBI tightened forex derivative trading rules to contain volatility.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, flagged that the opening strength still needs confirmation: “A sustained move above last week’s high of 22,776 would be needed to signal a bullish trend reversal… On the downside, 22,180 is near-term support; a break below it could signal a resumption of the downtrend.”