Market participants will track global developments, foreign institutional investor (FII) flows and further corporate earnings announcements for cues on market direction.

Auto shares advanced for the second consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:25 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 261.45 points or 0.35% to 74,577.07. The Nifty 50 index added 93 points or 0.40% to 23,087.90.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap 150 index was down 0.08%, while the Nifty SmallCap 250 index advanced 0.15%.

Market breadth remained positive. On the NSE, 2,062 shares advanced, while 1,423 declined and 111 remained unchanged.

Economy:

India's balance of payments recorded a surplus of $45.4 billion in August 2026, compared with a deficit of $5.6 billion a year earlier, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 October 2026. The current account deficit narrowed to $5.2 billion from $6.1 billion in August 2025. The merchandise trade deficit declined to $26.6 billion from $27.6 billion a year earlier, as merchandise exports rose to $44.7 billion from $35.1 billion, while imports increased to $71.3 billion from $62.7 billion. Net services receipts also rose to $16.5 billion from $15.6 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the government has raised windfall tax on exports of petrol, and reduced levies on diesel, according to a government notification issued late on Thursday night. The tax on petrol export was hiked to Rs 2.5 per litre from Rs 0.5 per litre, according to the notification. On the other hand, duty on diesel exports was slashed to Rs 8.5 per litre from Rs 16 per litre, effective October 16, the order said.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index jumped 0.83% to 25,598.30. The index rose 1.76% in the straight two trading sessions.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.07%), Bosch (up 1.82%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.5%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.99%) and Tube Investments of India (up 0.92%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.54%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.53%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 0.46%), Eicher Motors (up 0.44%) and Hyundai Motor India (up 0.43%) surged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.15% to 7.378 compared with the previous session close of 7.389.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 94.9550 compared with its close of 94.9900 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 December 2026 settlement rose 0.72% to Rs 1,48,547.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.27% to 101.78.

The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 0.08% to 5.094.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2026 settlement dropped 58 cents or 0.55% to $105.34 a barrel. Oil prices retreated after climbing above $106 in the previous session, as investors assessed developments in the Middle East and monitored the outlook for global oil supplies.