Indian stock benchmarks, including the Nifty 50 and Sensex, commenced trading on a positive note on Monday, December 1, 2025, reaching fresh all-time highs. This surge in investor sentiment follows the release of data indicating stronger-than-expected economic growth in the July-September quarter.
At the opening bell, the Nifty 50 climbed 0.47% to reach 26,325.80, while the Sensex gained 0.42% to stand at 86,065.92. Both indices surpassed their previous record highs achieved on Thursday.
The broad-based rally witnessed gains across fifteen of the sixteen major sectors. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks also participated in the upward movement, gaining 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
The positive market sentiment is largely attributed to India's economy growing at a robust 8.2% in the July-September quarter, exceeding a Reuters poll forecast of 7.3%. This growth was spurred by strong consumer spending and front-loading of production in anticipation of local festivals.
Boosted by the encouraging GDP data and strong momentum in the current quarter, Barclays has revised its growth forecast for fiscal year 2025-26 to 7.2% from the earlier projection of 6.8%.
From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the biggest gainers. On the other hand, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Titan and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.
Other Asian markets displayed a mixed performance. Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading in positive territory, while South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index experienced declines. U.S. markets closed higher on Friday, November 28.
Data indicated that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,795.72 crore on Friday, November 28, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth ₹4,148.48 crore. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 1.62% to $63.39 per barrel.
Despite the indices reaching new highs, some analysts point out that many retail investors' portfolio values remain below the previous market peak of September 2024. This is due to the rally being concentrated in a few heavyweight stocks. According to Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, eight stocks have a 50% weighting in Nifty. He also noted that 330 stocks in NSE 500 are below their September 2024 peak.
Prashanth Tapse l, Senior V-P (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd., stated that the new record highs for the Nifty appear to be the new norm, supported by India's Q2 FY26 GDP print of 8.2% and broad-based sectoral strength.
Even as indices touch new records, most retail investors have lower portfolio values than at the previous market peak in September 2024. The reason for this paradox is the narrow nature of the rally. The excellent Q2 GDP numbers at 8.2 per cent, particularly the impressive growth in manufacturing, services, and final consumption expenditure, have the potential to take the market higher, an analyst said.
