Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Friday (October 16, 2026) amid profit-taking, a day after recording a sharp rally.

Relentless foreign fund outflows and a decline in blue-chip Reliance Industries after a 4% rally in the previous trade added to the overall bearish trend in equities during the initial trading session.

However, strong buying in IT stocks cushioned the fall to a great extent in the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 113 points to 74,187 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 27.20 points to 22,967.15.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints and State Bank of India were among the biggest laggards.

Tech Mahindra surged 5% after the IT services firm reported a 32.74% jump in consolidated net profit to ₹1,585.6 crore for the July-September quarter of FY27 as strong volume growth, cost savings and rupee depreciation lifted operating profit.

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel and Titan were among the winners.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹5,285.37 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.61% lower at $105.3 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan’s 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hang Seng index rebounded and were trading in positive territory.

U.S. markets ended higher on Thursday.

On Thursday (October 15, 2026), the Sensex jumped 1,533.72 points, or 2.11%, to settle near the day's high at 74,315.61. The Nifty climbed 374.65 points, or 1.66%, to close at 22,997.35, its highest level since September 25.