By Bharath Rajeswaran

India’s stock benchmarks notched their third straight monthly gain on Friday driven by improving earnings, expectations of domestic and U.S. rate cuts and eased valuations, and ended near record highs ahead of the economic growth data.

The Nifty 50 NIFTY ended 0.05% lower at 26,202.95 and Sensex SENSEX lost 0.02% to 85,706.67.

Both benchmarks hit all-time highs on Thursday after 14 months. They rose about 2% each in November, gaining about 7.3% over three months.

India's Nifty 50 posts third straight monthly advance in NovemberThomson ReutersIndia’s Nifty 50 posts third straight monthly advance in November

“The recent breakout after a long consolidation reflects strengthening earnings, demand tailwinds from tax cuts, supportive monetary policy, benign inflation and steady economic growth,” said Amnish Aggarwal, analyst at PL Capital.

India’s economy likely stayed resilient in the July-September quarter, with GDP growth estimated at 7.3% year-on-year, driven by robust demand, according to a Reuters poll. The data is due after market hours on Friday.

Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged monthly gains. The information technology index CNXIT rose 4.7%, buoyed by firming bets of a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve that could spur client spending in the U.S., the sector’s largest market.

Performance of India's key stock indexes in November 2025Thomson ReutersPerformance of India’s key stock indexes in November 2025

Heavyweight financials CNXFINANCE, banks BANKNIFTY, private lenders (.NIFPVTBNK) and state-owned banks CNXPSUBANK climbed between 2.6% and 4% in November, on improving earnings and prospects of an imminent rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, which could ease funding costs and boost credit growth.

Autos CNXAUTO gained 3.6%, led by a 7.8% jump in Mahindra and Mahindra M&M on strong earnings, upbeat demand and new launches.

While benchmarks have scaled fresh record highs, the rally remained constrained due to uncertainty over a trade deal with the United States.

The broader small-caps CNXSMALLCAP fell 3% and the mid-caps CNXMIDCAP added 2% in November.

Among stocks, Asian Paints ASIANPAINT posted its best month since July 2022, rising 14.5% in November, fuelled by higher weightage in a key global index, demand recovery and upbeat results.

Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries RELIANCE1! gained 5.5% on an improving earnings outlook across all its core segments.

Performance of India's Nifty 50 constituents in November 2025Thomson ReutersPerformance of India’s Nifty 50 constituents in November 2025