Dalal Street kicked off 2026 on a strong bullish note, with the Nifty surging past 26,300 intraday—the highest since December 1—to a one-month high of 26,314. Broad-based buying prevailed, with a healthy 2.5:1 advance-decline ratio. Nifty Bank soared 380 points, driven by both PSU (Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank at record highs) and private banks (ICICI, Axis, Kotak). Energy (BPCL, HPCL, RIL), Realty, and PSU stocks led sectoral gains. Metals shone—Hindalco and National Aluminium hit record highs—while autos (Maruti, M&M, TVS, Ashok Leyland) rallied post-strong December sales. Renewable financiers (IREDA, REC, PFC) rebounded sharply from multi-month lows. Pre-Budget optimism fuels the momentum across PSU banks, metals, and autos.