Samvat 2082 was a year of divergence across global and domestic financial markets, with Indian equities lagging several major international benchmarks even as commodities rallied sharply and the rupee weakened against the US dollar. The Nifty 50 declined 2.59% and the Sensex fell 3.35% between Diwali 2025 and Diwali 2026, while the Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 managed modest gains of 0.90% and 0.29%, respectively. In contrast, Japan's Nikkei surged 13.08%, South Korea's KOSPI jumped 23.63% and the FTSE advanced 11.26%, reflecting stronger gains across major global markets.
Sectoral performance on Dalal Street remained sharply divided. Pharma and metal stocks led the rally, with the Nifty Pharma rising 24.77% and Nifty Metal gaining 21.71%, while FMCG, IT and realty stocks weighed on the market. At the individual stock level, BSE emerged as the top Nifty 50 performer with a 52.3% gain, whereas ITC plunged 30.94%, making it the biggest laggard.
The commodities market delivered an equally striking performance. Crude oil surged 54.11%, and copper gained 33.56%, while gold and silver advanced 2.25% and 8.16%, respectively. Adding to the pressure, the Indian rupee depreciated around 7.1% against the US dollar, with the exchange rate moving from approximately ₹87.90 to ₹94.14. The Diwali-to-Diwali comparison captures a year of uneven equity returns, a sharp commodity rally and currency weakness as Indian markets enter Samvat 2083.
According to Nuvama Wealth Research, five potential catalysts could drive a resurgence in the Indian equity market during Samvat 2083.
1. India–US trade deal: A catalyst for FII comeback: A favourable trade agreement between India and the US could boost foreign investor confidence, reduce policy uncertainty and revive foreign institutional investor (FII) flows into Indian equities.