HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Indian markets lose recovery momentum, slide further in early noon deals
Oct-22-2026

Indian equity benchmarks failed to hold recovery and again added losses in early afternoon session, amid a re-escalation in the Middle East conflict after a deadly attack on a Saudi oil field overnight sent crude oil prices spiking and added to concerns over supply disruptions and global inflationary pressures. Both indices, Sensex and Nifty, remained under the grip of bears, with investors tracking second-quarter earnings announcements for further direction.

Traders overlooked the Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s latest data showing that nine key infrastructure sectors’ output growth increased to 7.9 per cent in September 2026 against 3.1 per cent in the year-ago month driven by strong performance of iron ore, electricity and cement segments. The core sector expanded by 5.9 per cent in August 2026. During April-September, the pace of growth was higher at 5.1 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent in the same period of 2025-26.     

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red; after the Bank of Korea left its benchmark rate unchanged on Thursday, following two consecutive quarter-point rate hikes and maintained a hawkish stance as inflation is expected to remain above the target level. The seven-member monetary policy board unanimously decided to keep the base rate unchanged at 3.00 percent, as widely expected.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73197.04, down by 512.65 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 73005.11 and 73720.83. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG down by 1.63%, IT down by 1.31%, Capital Goods down by 1.08%, Utilities down by 1.08% and Auto down by 1.05%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.31%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.15%, ICICI Bank up by 0.79%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.49% and Eternal up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.55%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.53%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.28%, HDFC Bank down by 1.25% and Asian Paints down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim of boosting India’s trade ties with Germany and Netherlands, the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit the two European nations from October 22-27 and discuss ways to improve trade and investments between India and these nations. During his October 22-24 visit to Germany, the minister will engage with international policymakers and global business leaders to highlight India's macroeconomic stability, manufacturing capabilities and its pivotal role in building resilient global supply chains. The meetings will focus on strengthening bilateral trade and investment corridors, accelerating technological and industrial cooperation in advanced engineering, green mobility and clean technology, and exploring market access and investment avenues arising from the ongoing India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

Moreover, Goyal will be accompanied by an Indian business delegation of around 100 business leaders and entrepreneurs on his visit. Indian business delegation will have a parallel programme in Berlin, which includes sectoral roundtables with German CEOs. The roundtables will cover automotive, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure and energy; information technology, artificial intelligence and services; agri-food, consumer goods and textiles; and healthcare, pharmaceuticals and wellness. The delegation will also participate in an India-Germany Investment Roundtable with Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) on investing and establishing operations in Germany.

During 2025-26, Germany was India’s eighth largest trading partner and largest trading partner in the EU. The bilateral trade between India and Germany during the year grew by about 5% to $31 billion (exports $11.52 billion and imports $19.5 billion) with trade gap favouring Germany. Indian services exports to Germany were $10.36 billion and Indian services imports from Germany were $6.40 billion in 2025. In contrast, the two-way trade between India and the Netherlands dipped 16.2% to $23.26 billion (exports $17.5 billion and imports $5.76 billion) in 2025-26. The trade gap is in the favour of India. The Netherlands is India's eleventh largest trading partner in the world and third largest export destination globally and the largest in Europe.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22627.05, down by 184.30 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 22554.85 and 22785.00. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 0.93%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.57%, ICICI Bank up by 0.51% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.38%. On the flip side, Nestle India down by 3.15%, Coal India down by 2.50%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.22%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.21% and HDFC Bank down by 2.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 201.89 points or 3.65% to 5,533.77, Taiwan Weighted lost 846.34 points or 1.84% to 46,041.43, Hang Seng declined 731.87 points or 3.09% to 22,920.00, Nikkei 225 slipped 1666.24 points or 2.65% to 62,955.00, Straits Times fell 21.5 points or 0.4% to 5,416.49 and Shanghai Composite weakened 53.72 points or 1.45% to 3,659.31, while Jakarta Composite gained 60.95 points or 1.14% to 5,389.31.
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.