Core Market Context

Retail inflation accelerated to 5.54% in September, up from 4.83% in August, with food inflation at 7.74% and onion prices soaring 108% year‑on‑year. Rural inflation reached 6.08%, pushing the headline rate toward the upper bound of the Reserve Bank of India's 2‑6% tolerance band. In response, the RBI raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% on October 7, marking its first hike since February 2023 and signalling a shift to “calibrated tightening.” The central bank also lifted its FY27 inflation projection to 5.2% and raised its growth forecast to 7.1%.

Immediate Market Reaction

Bond yields rose and foreign selling persisted, sending the Nifty 50 down 0.70% to 22,363.35 and the Sensex down 0.76% to 71,924.68 on Monday. The Nifty is down roughly 14% year‑to‑date in 2026.

Investing.com AI‑Powered Strategies Performance

Investing.com’s AI‑driven stock‑picking strategies – Bharat Market Outperformers, Bharat Mid‑Cap Movers, and Bharat Small‑Cap Gems – have collectively outperformed their benchmarks. Since the launch of Bharat Market Outperformers in December 2024, the strategy is up 7.1% YTD, outpacing the Nifty, which has lost 5.8% over the same period. Bharat Mid‑Cap Movers is up 11.2% in 2026, while the Nifty Mid‑Cap 100 is down 3.1%. Bharat Small‑Cap Gems has gained 21.4%, more than double the Nifty Small‑Cap 100’s 9.7% gain.

Top Individual Winners Since Selection

  • IRM Energy (NSE:IRMENERGY) – bought at ₹185.57 in early April, reached ₹356.91 by the May rebalance, delivering a 92.3% price gain; the stock later cooled to around ₹257.
  • Diamond Power Infrastructure (BSE:522163) – purchased at ₹182.90 in June, sold at ₹324.65 in the August rebalance for a 77.5% gain; re‑entered the mid‑cap book in October at ₹354.15 and is up 7.6% since.
  • Samvardhana Motherson (BSE:517334) – up 45.5% since being added in April.
  • Stove Kraft (NSE:STOVEKRAFT) – up 29.4% since June.
  • HFCL (NSE:HFCL) – up 25.3% since July.
  • Rain Industries (BSE:500339) – up 19.8% since July.
  • Updater Services (NSE:UDS) – up 19.2% since June.
  • Anand Rathi Wealth (NSE:ANANDRATHI) – up 19.2% since June.
  • Andhra Sugars (NSE:ANDHRSUGAR) – up 16.2% since July.
  • Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (NSE:GNFC) – up 16.1% since July.

Drivers Behind the Biggest Gains

Diamond Power’s surge was fueled by a record ₹435.71 crore data‑center cable order in early July for 310 MW of projects in Hyderabad, followed by a ₹185.16 crore order from Adani Energy Solutions for aluminium‑alloy conductors on transmission projects in Tuticorin and Pune. The latter order includes built‑in inflation protection linked to aluminium prices and currency movements. IRM Energy’s rapid rise stemmed from heavy delivery‑based buying and a 20% upper‑circuit day on April 22, after a 30.5% weekly jump in late April.

Sectors Under Pressure

The hot inflation print and tightening stance hurt sectors reliant on cheap credit and consumer spending. FMCG and PSU bank stocks were among the weakest, while chemicals and media led the market. State‑run energy stocks have been the biggest drags for the AI strategies: ONGC is down 21.0% since entry, Coal India down 13.7%, and Indian Oil down 11.8% as higher crude prices compress fuel retailer margins. In the mid‑cap book, GMR Power and CESC each fell more than 16%.

Outlook

With October inflation data scheduled for release on November 12 and the RBI clearly in tightening mode, the next few weeks will test whether the AI strategies can continue to generate outsized returns despite a challenging macro environment.

How the AI Picker Works

Each month the proprietary AI evaluates thousands of global equities using over 15 years of financial data across more than 150 quantitative models, selecting up to 20 high‑conviction stocks per strategy. Strategies are rebalanced monthly, with equal weighting applied to all selected stocks, providing a transparent benchmark for performance measurement.