HDFC Bank, Reliance and Bharti Airtel fuel a third of Nifty's 4,000-point rally

The benchmark Nifty50 is now just 150 points shy of its record closing high from September 26, 2024 and is on track to log its third-highest close ever. What’s even more striking is the index’s 18% surge from its March lows, adding nearly 4,000 points over the period.

The rally hasn’t been entirely smooth, but market heavyweights have done the heavy lifting. Three stocks — HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel — together accounted for nearly one-third of the Nifty’s total gains during this run, data compiled by CNBC-TV18 show. The trio together command a weight of over 26% in the index, with HDFC Bank alone contributing almost 13%, followed by Reliance Industries at 8.6%.

Interestingly, this surge has come even without participation from the IT sector, which remains under pressure. The five-member IT pack — including TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra — now carries a combined weight of just 13%, less than HDFC Bank’s alone.

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Investor sentiment also appears to be getting a lift from renewed foreign inflows. According to provisional exchange data, foreign investors bought $1.2 billion worth of Indian equities on Tuesday, October 28 — the second-biggest single-day purchase of 2025. Month-to-date, FPI inflows have topped $2.5 billion, a sharp reversal from the $9.3 billion outflow in the September quarter.

FII positioning in the NSE index futures market reflects this shift: their short positions have narrowed to about 80%, from 93% at the start of October. "FII underweight positions have reached their limits — we could see them returning soon," said Sandeep Tandon, Founder and CIO, Quant Mutual Fund.

Among Nifty50 constituents, Bharat Electronics led the rally with a 55% gain, followed by Jio Financial Services at 50%. Stocks like Eternal, Eicher Motors, SBI Life Insurance and Maruti Suzuki also surged between 40% and 45%. On the flip side, IT stocks were the notable laggards, with Wipro and TCS down more than 13% each, and Infosys slipping 10.4%.

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