Sensex rises 100 pts, Nifty above 26,050; IT stocks hold gains for second day

Markets Extend Gains as Buying Broadens

Sensex and Nifty extended their gains for the second straight session on November 20, supported by positive global cues. Buying interest was broad-based in early trade, with advances outnumbering declines and most sectors opening in the green.

Around morning, the Sensex was up 166.67 points or 0.20 percent at 85,353.14, while the Nifty rose 46.00 points or 0.18 percent to 26,098.65. Around 1,595 shares advanced, 841 declined and 160 remained unchanged.

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The broader market also stayed firm, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising up to 0.3 percent. India VIX continued to ease, indicating a lack of near-term nervousness among investors.

Among sectors, Nifty FMCG led early gains, with stocks such as HUL, Tata Consumer, Dabur and Nestle India rising up to 0.6 percent. Technology shares also supported sentiment, with Persistent Systems, LTI Mindtree, Tech Mahindra and Wipro trading higher. On the other hand, pharma and PSU banking names remained under pressure.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the market narrative is undergoing a shift. “At the start of the year, the setup was strong macros but weak micros. That is now changing to strong macros and improving micros,” he noted. According to him, this improvement coincides with a more constructive view on India from global banks, which now consider the market fairly valued and investible given its resilient economy and better earnings outlook.

He added that the weakening global AI trade is also working in India’s favour, positioning the country as what he called an “anti-AI trade.” FIIs turning buyers in the cash market yesterday reflects this shift in perception. “In the market, this trend is likely to show up as a preference for largecaps and an outperformance from them, particularly as smallcap valuations remain difficult to justify even after the recent correction,” he said.