Indian equity benchmarks surged in early trade on Monday, November 2, extending Friday's recovery. The BSE Sensex opened 718.71 points higher at 75,178.24 against its previous close of 74,459.53 and was trading at 75,421 by 9:32 am IST, up 961 points or 1.29 per cent, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. The Nifty 50 opened 169.20 points higher at 23,222.30 from 23,053.10 and climbed to 23,302.75, up 1.07 per cent, in the first half-hour of trade.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

75,421Sensex at 9:32 am IST, up 1.29%
23,302.75Nifty 50 at 9:32 am IST, up 1.07%
41 of 50Nifty stocks trading in the green in early trade
$109.71Brent January futures, down over 3% on the morning

The immediate trigger was a pullback in global crude oil prices. Brent crude, which had touched $118 a barrel last week, retreated sharply, with January futures down more than 3 per cent at $109.71 a barrel in morning trade, Upstox reported, citing exchange and TradingView data. US Treasury yields held steady near 4.9 per cent, Asian markets traded in the green, and Gift Nifty futures had pointed to a firm start before the opening bell.

Source: Upstox

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries led the gainers, rising 4.59 per cent to Rs 1,218.40 from a previous close of Rs 1,164.90. Tata Steel gained 3.88 per cent to Rs 174.10, power utility NTPC added 2.96 per cent to Rs 325.60, Maruti Suzuki rose 2.54 per cent to Rs 11,687 and Jio Financial Services climbed 2.13 per cent to Rs 208.85. On the losing side, Sun Pharmaceutical fell 1.83 per cent, Apollo Hospitals declined 1.62 per cent and Infosys slipped 0.57 per cent in early trade.

Analysts linked the move to Friday's selloff in US technology stocks — the Nasdaq fell 2.9 per cent and the Dow Jones 1.1 per cent amid concerns over heavy AI spending and uncertain returns, with Intel's weak outlook adding to the pressure. 'Weakening trend in AI trade is beneficial for India which is widely regarded as a counter AI play,' said Dr V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. 'For now, it is advantage bulls.' Foreign institutional investors were net buyers on Friday, purchasing equities worth Rs 3,598 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold Rs 817 crore.

Domestic data added support: bank credit growth stood at 17.94 per cent and October GST collections remained robust through the festive season, while UPI transactions and auto wholesale numbers pointed to healthy consumer demand. India's forex reserves, however, fell for a seventh consecutive week to $719.75 billion, even as the rupee posted its best monthly gain in eight months in October. Analysts cautioned that cheaper oil alone does not settle the market's direction — 'The decline therefore reduces immediate pressure but does not yet represent a durable normalisation in energy conditions,' said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth — and flagged 23,175-23,285 as the Nifty's immediate resistance band. This report reflects early-trade levels on Monday morning; index levels move through the session.