Nifty, Sensex escape Wall Street, Asia rout that wipes out over $2 trillion; IT stocks rally; here's why
The BSE Sensex was quoting at 79,460.30, up 150.29 points or 0.19 per cent. Nifty was down 20.50 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 24,516.10.
- Nov 6, 2026,
- Updated Nov 6, 2026 10:26 AM IST
Indian benchmarks Nifty and Sensex were trading in positive territory on Friday, even as the AI-led global selloff wiped out over $2 trillion from Wall Street alone, amid hopes of a 'reverse AI' trade gaining ground. With AI-heavy markets across Asia falling, there are hopes India may soon see higher allocations in emerging market (EM) inflows. Such a view received a boost from provisional data showing foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought stocks worth Rs 13,801.83 crore, alone, on Thursday. IT stocks, seen as key beneficiary of halt to AI-related investments, led gainers.
The BSE Sensex was quoting at 79,460.30, up 150.29 points or 0.19 per cent. Nifty was down 20.50 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 24,516.10. Elsewhere, the selloff followed a rout across Wall Street that erased trillions of dollars in value, as fears of a moratorium on new artificial intelligence and technology data centres gained ground following Democratic gains over US President Donald Trump-led Republicans in the midterm elections.
The bloodbath in the US markets impacted most other markets today, but India was least impacted, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
M&M rose 3.68 per cent to Rs 3,242.60 and led the Nifty gainers, which was followed by Titan Company Ltd that added 2.32 per cent to Rs 4,946.90, both gained on better-than-expected Q2 results. Bharti Airtel Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Ltd gained 1.5-1.85 per cent.
"The big rout of 5.6 per cent in Nasdaq was triggered on concerns of big slowdown in data centre spending since the Democrats are opposed to massive data centre investment. This tech rout, particularly the sharp deceleration in AI trade will turn out to be beneficial for India. It is important to note that the FIIs have bought equities for Rs 35781 crores in the last five trading days. Despite selling and profit booking by DIIs the market is likely to remain resilient since FII buying will continue in the changed global market construct," Vijayakumar said.
The analyst said is important to recognise the fact that this ongoing rally has fundamental support from impressive earnings growth which has come better-than-expected.
"A significant factor which investors should understand is that this rally is driven by large-caps which had become attractively valued. Note that yesterday while the Sensex rallied 2.6 per cent, the Smallcap 100 index crawled by a measly 0.67 per cent. It is evident where money is going. For financials, tech and auto stocks there is more upside," he said.
Korea’s Kospi hit its circuit breaker earlier today, while indices across Japan and Taiwan were hit hard in Asia. The selloff was largely triggered by artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, amid growing fears of a moratorium on new artificial intelligence and technology data centres following Democratic gains over US President Donald Trump-led Republicans in the midterm elections.
Analysts said concerns about tighter AI-related regulation and excessive competition with China continue to linger. They added that a risk-on environment would likely require the Federal Reserve to pause rate hikes, a ceasefire to drive down oil prices and a recovery in technology stocks. At present, it is not in sight.
Korea's Kospi fell as much as 8.8 per cent today, trigger circuit breaker, with Samsung and SK Hynix falling over 6 per cent each. Japan's Nikkei declined 5.7 per cent. This is after a 6.4 per cent overnight drop in Nasdaq 100 that wiped $2.3 trillion in value in a worst trading session since March 2020.
They noted that high interest rates, elevated oil prices and mixed Q3 results from US AI companies have weighed on global equities, with investors now questioning whether massive AI investment commitments will generate adequate returns, even if concerns regarding moratorium is exaggerated.
As Nomura pointed out this morning, a federal AI data centre (AIDC) moratorium is unlikely, but a "temporary pause" at the state level remains possible.
It said mainstream Democrats are not opposed to AI itself. The key questions are who pays for power, who provides oversight, how semiconductor chips are supplied to China, and how export controls on chipmaking equipment would evolve.
"A federal data centre moratorium looks unlikely given divisions within the party and the presidential veto, and any brakes should come at the state level. In Texas and Georgia, candidates who campaigned on a 'temporary pause' (halting new permits for AI data centres until rules are in place) won, while in Ohio both parties' candidates backed conditional approval," Nomura said.
No governor-elect in major data centre states has pledged a permanent ban; permanent bans exist only in some local ballot measures, it noted.
For India, the immediate pressure is likely to be concentrated in IT and other globally sensitive stocks, but sustained global deleveraging could eventually affect domestic sectors through foreign selling even without a direct earnings impact, said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth.
Indian benchmarks Nifty and Sensex were trading in positive territory on Friday, even as the AI-led global selloff wiped out over $2 trillion from Wall Street alone, amid hopes of a 'reverse AI' trade gaining ground. With AI-heavy markets across Asia falling, there are hopes India may soon see higher allocations in emerging market (EM) inflows. Such a view received a boost from provisional data showing foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought stocks worth Rs 13,801.83 crore, alone, on Thursday. IT stocks, seen as key beneficiary of halt to AI-related investments, led gainers.
The BSE Sensex was quoting at 79,460.30, up 150.29 points or 0.19 per cent. Nifty was down 20.50 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 24,516.10. Elsewhere, the selloff followed a rout across Wall Street that erased trillions of dollars in value, as fears of a moratorium on new artificial intelligence and technology data centres gained ground following Democratic gains over US President Donald Trump-led Republicans in the midterm elections.
The bloodbath in the US markets impacted most other markets today, but India was least impacted, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
M&M rose 3.68 per cent to Rs 3,242.60 and led the Nifty gainers, which was followed by Titan Company Ltd that added 2.32 per cent to Rs 4,946.90, both gained on better-than-expected Q2 results. Bharti Airtel Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Ltd gained 1.5-1.85 per cent.
"The big rout of 5.6 per cent in Nasdaq was triggered on concerns of big slowdown in data centre spending since the Democrats are opposed to massive data centre investment. This tech rout, particularly the sharp deceleration in AI trade will turn out to be beneficial for India. It is important to note that the FIIs have bought equities for Rs 35781 crores in the last five trading days. Despite selling and profit booking by DIIs the market is likely to remain resilient since FII buying will continue in the changed global market construct," Vijayakumar said.
The analyst said is important to recognise the fact that this ongoing rally has fundamental support from impressive earnings growth which has come better-than-expected.
"A significant factor which investors should understand is that this rally is driven by large-caps which had become attractively valued. Note that yesterday while the Sensex rallied 2.6 per cent, the Smallcap 100 index crawled by a measly 0.67 per cent. It is evident where money is going. For financials, tech and auto stocks there is more upside," he said.
Korea’s Kospi hit its circuit breaker earlier today, while indices across Japan and Taiwan were hit hard in Asia. The selloff was largely triggered by artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, amid growing fears of a moratorium on new artificial intelligence and technology data centres following Democratic gains over US President Donald Trump-led Republicans in the midterm elections.
Analysts said concerns about tighter AI-related regulation and excessive competition with China continue to linger. They added that a risk-on environment would likely require the Federal Reserve to pause rate hikes, a ceasefire to drive down oil prices and a recovery in technology stocks. At present, it is not in sight.
Korea's Kospi fell as much as 8.8 per cent today, trigger circuit breaker, with Samsung and SK Hynix falling over 6 per cent each. Japan's Nikkei declined 5.7 per cent. This is after a 6.4 per cent overnight drop in Nasdaq 100 that wiped $2.3 trillion in value in a worst trading session since March 2020.
They noted that high interest rates, elevated oil prices and mixed Q3 results from US AI companies have weighed on global equities, with investors now questioning whether massive AI investment commitments will generate adequate returns, even if concerns regarding moratorium is exaggerated.
As Nomura pointed out this morning, a federal AI data centre (AIDC) moratorium is unlikely, but a "temporary pause" at the state level remains possible.
It said mainstream Democrats are not opposed to AI itself. The key questions are who pays for power, who provides oversight, how semiconductor chips are supplied to China, and how export controls on chipmaking equipment would evolve.
"A federal data centre moratorium looks unlikely given divisions within the party and the presidential veto, and any brakes should come at the state level. In Texas and Georgia, candidates who campaigned on a 'temporary pause' (halting new permits for AI data centres until rules are in place) won, while in Ohio both parties' candidates backed conditional approval," Nomura said.
No governor-elect in major data centre states has pledged a permanent ban; permanent bans exist only in some local ballot measures, it noted.
For India, the immediate pressure is likely to be concentrated in IT and other globally sensitive stocks, but sustained global deleveraging could eventually affect domestic sectors through foreign selling even without a direct earnings impact, said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth.