On Monday, October 5, the Indian equity benchmarks opened higher, mirroring a positive trend across Asian markets. The SENSEX rose as much as 474 points, while the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 22,563. Gains were led by heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, ITC and Axis Bank. At 9:19 a.m., the SENSEX stood at 72,382, up 473 points, and the NIFTY50 was at 22,547, up 121 points.

The rally was supported by easing rate‑hike expectations in the United States, following weak September jobs data and a decline in crude prices. The September jobs report showed US employers added fewer workers than expected and wage growth slowed, prompting money markets to price in less than a 25% chance of an October Fed hike, Bloomberg reported. Global crude oil prices fell nearly 1% to $101 per barrel, as Reuters reported, after crude oil exports from the Middle East rose above pre‑war levels in four of the seven days of the final week of September.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher: Australia’s S&P ASX 200 index advanced 0.3%, Japan’s Nikkei surged 2.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.23%. Markets in China and South Korea were closed on account of holiday. Bajaj Finance emerged as the top gainer in the NIFTY50, climbing over 3% to an intraday high of ₹983 after its board approved raising capital up to ₹11,700 crore via Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). The board also approved a preferential issue of warrants convertible into equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding ₹5,800 crore.

HDFC Bank rose 1.8% following approval of Anup Bagchi’s appointment as MD and CEO, and the bank reported average advances under management of ₹31,87,200 crore for the September 2026 quarter, a 14% increase over ₹27,94,600 crore for the corresponding September 2025 period. Other stocks that rose between 1.4% and 2.2% included ITC, Coal India, Shriram Finance, Grasim Industries, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, TCS, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv and Larsen & Toubro.

On the downside, Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics and Dr Reddy’s Labs were the top losers in the NIFTY50 index. Buying pressure was evident across sectors, with 12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange trading higher. The NIFTY PSU Bank index gained 1.9%, while NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Media, Private Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices rose between 1% and 1.5%. The overall market breadth remained positive, with 2,156 shares advancing against 967 declining on the NSE.