Nifty 50 Jumps Over 1% Past 23,300 as Reliance Rockets 7% in Its Best Session Since 2020, Defying Wall Street

MUMBAI, India — Indian stocks rallied on Monday, with the Nifty 50 index climbing more than 1% as a surge in Reliance Industries lifted the market despite a sharp sell-off in U.S. technology shares.

The Nifty 50 was up 262.25 points, or 1.14%, at 23,315.35 around midday. The BSE Sensex gained more than 1,000 points at one point, trading around 75,400.

The Nifty hit an early high of 23,330.70, while the Sensex reached 75,489.70.

Reliance leads the charge

Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, was the biggest driver of the rally. Its shares jumped 7.12% to 1,246.45 rupees on the BSE in morning trade, on course for their best session since 2020.

Because of its heavy weighting in both benchmark indexes, Reliance's sharp gain accounted for a large share of the market's advance.

Reliance has been in the spotlight after the listing of its digital unit, Jio Platforms, on Oct. 28. Jio shares jumped more than 21% above their offer price on debut, helping lift the combined market value of the Reliance group past the Tata Group to reclaim its position as India's largest conglomerate for the first time since October 2020.

Reliance shares, however, had fallen as much as 2% on the day of the Jio listing, as investors weighed how the spin-off affected the parent company's value.

Tata Steel and NTPC were also among the top gainers.

Broad gains

The rally extended to the broader market. The Nifty Midcap index rose 0.96%, and the Nifty Smallcap index gained 0.86%.

Shrugging off Wall Street

India's advance came despite a weak lead from the United States. On Friday, U.S. technology stocks tumbled as investors cut exposure to AI-related companies amid concerns about heavy spending and uncertain returns. The Nasdaq dropped about 3.5%, and the S&P 500 fell 1.82%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.37%.

India's market has relatively little direct exposure to the AI hardware trade that has driven volatility in markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, which may have limited the impact of the U.S. tech sell-off.

Indian IT stocks rose more than 2% on Friday, ahead of the latest round of global tech weakness.

A difficult year

Despite Monday's gains, Indian stocks have had a tough 2026. The Nifty 50 hit record highs above 26,300 in January but has since fallen sharply amid foreign investor selling, geopolitical tensions and concerns about corporate earnings.

The index is now trading well below those highs, and Reliance shares had dropped about 14% this year as of May before recent gains.

Global backdrop

Investors are also watching developments in the Middle East, where disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have pushed oil prices higher. India is one of the world's largest oil importers, making it sensitive to energy price swings.

Oil prices eased in Asian trading on Monday on hopes that Qatar-mediated talks could help reopen the strait.

What to watch

Key events this week include the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday, more corporate earnings from Indian companies for the July-September quarter, and data on foreign investment flows.

Analysts say the sustainability of Monday's rally will depend on whether buying broadens beyond heavyweight stocks such as Reliance and whether foreign investors return to Indian equities.

For now, Reliance's surge has given the market one of its strongest starts to a week in recent months.