M&M Surges 3.4% as Jindal Stainless Profit Jumps 43%

M&M Leads the Market While Two Stories Diverge [Mahindra & Mahindra](/stock/MM) had the kind of session fund managers remember. Shares of NSE: MM climbed 3.4% on Thursday, making it the top gainer on the Nifty 50, after the company reported quarterly profits that came in ahead of analyst estimates. The engine behind the beat? Consistent SUV demand — particularly in the mid-to-premium segment — and a tractor business that signals rural India is spending again. When both your urban and rural customers are buying at the same time, you don't need a complicated thesis. [Jindal Stainless](/stock/JINDALSTEL) delivered numbers that were harder to ignore. NSE: JINDALSTEL reported consolidated net profit of ₹844 crore for Q4 FY26, a 43% jump year-on-year. That's not incremental improvement — that's a structural re-rating story playing out in real time. Stainless steel demand from infrastructure, consumer durables, and exports has been building for several quarters, and Jindal is capturing that wave with better operating leverage at the plant level. These two stocks told one story: domestic demand, tangible assets, visible earnings. The rest of the Nifty told another. IT and Banking: Sector-Specific Pressure, Not a Market Collapse NSE: TECHM extended its underperformance, slipping notably as the broader IT sector continued to reprice on concerns around global discretionary spending cuts by enterprise clients — particularly in the US and Europe. Tech Mahindra's recovery story, which management had been guiding aggressively, faces a real test when the deal pipeline doesn't convert fast enough. Investors who bought the turnaround narrative in FY25 are being asked to be patient for the third consecutive quarter. [ICICI Bank](/stock/ICICIBANK) and NSE: AXISBANK also faced selling pressure. This isn't a credit quality scare — both banks have reported healthy asset quality recently. What's happening is more mechanical: institutional investors rotating out of financials when equ...