The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Thursday, October 29, with the SENSEX rising as much as 150 points and the NIFTY50 index touching an intraday high of 25,742. At 9:22 am, the SENSEX was up 61 points at 73,259 and the NIFTY50 index rose 10 points to 22,709. Gains were led by heavyweights such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Adani Ports, which were the top movers in the SENSEX.

Asian markets traded on a mixed note on Thursday as AI‑related earnings announcements prompted wildly mixed responses, raising the stakes for Amazon and Intel results due later in the day, Reuters reported. Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.32%, China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.62%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.2% and South Korea's KOSPI index dropped 2.13%. The mixed sentiment reflected uncertainty over technology earnings, while regional indices showed divergent movements.

Hefty cash burn from Alphabet sent its shares 10% lower in after‑hours trading, wiping nearly $400 billion off its market value. That drove Nasdaq futures 1% lower. Microsoft, by contrast, beat forecasts with better‑than‑expected cash flows that lifted its shares by 3%, the report added. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.28% and Nasdaq rose 0.27%. Brent crude futures declined marginally and were trading close to $115 per barrel as hopes for peace talks took the edge off renewed concerns over Middle East supply disruptions from escalating regional conflict.

Back home, buying interest was visible across board as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher, led by the NIFTY Media index's 1.1% gain. The NIFTY IT, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and Bank indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.7%. On the other hand, select auto and real estate shares were facing selling pressure. Broader markets witnessed buying interest as the NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.36% and the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.34%.

Among the individual shares, Birlasoft surged 10% after its net profit in the September quarter rose 38% to ₹160 crore. The company signed deals of TCV $116 million during the quarter with new deal wins TCV of $47 million and renewals of $69 million. Jupiter Wagons surged 8% after it secured an order for 2,583 BOXNHL and BOXNS wagons worth ₹1,140 crore from the Ministry of Railways. Adani Ports was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.53% to ₹1,805. Power Grid, Adani Enterprises, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BSE, TCS and Dr Reddy's Labs also rose between 0.85% and 1.53%. On the flip side, Trent, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Nestle India, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Tata Consumer Products, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors and Larsen & Toubro were top losers in the NIFTY50 index. The overall market breadth was positive as 1,719 shares were advancing while 1,246 were declining on the NSE.