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Markets remain weak in late trade
Oct-22-2026

Benchmarks made slight recovery from lower levels supported by value buying at lower levels in late afternoon session. Traders also took support of fresh capital inflow from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs were the net buyers on Wednesday’s session, buying securities worth Rs 1,022.32 crore. However, markets continued to trade in negative territory as rise in global crude oil prices, elevated US bond yields and 55 paise depreciation of rupee against dollar have weighed on investor sentiments. Besides, markets participants stayed away from any risk bets ahead of weekly expiry of Sensex’s F&O contract and awaited earning release of Infosys, JSW Ste, Shriram Finance and Dr Reddys Laboratories, scheduled to release tomorrow.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red amid concerns surrounding the financing and profitability of the artificial intelligence boom. European equity markets were trading lower as escalating tensions in Middle East and concerns over France’s fiscal crisis sparked caution among investors. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73297.53, down by 412.16 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 73005.11 and 73720.83. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG down by 1.59%, Capital Goods down by 1.42%, Industrials down by 1.11%, IT down by 1.07% and Power down by 1.02%. Meanwhile, there were no gainers on BSE sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 1.17%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.14%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.83%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.77% and ICICI Bank up by 0.56%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.11%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.06%, Eternal down by 2.00%, Infosys down by 1.96% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.88% were the top losers.

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

According to the data, Iron Ore production having 4.90% weight increased by 18.4% in September 2026 over September 2025, and its cumulative index rose by 21.2% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Steel production having 17.58% weight increased by 4.9% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index rose by 4.3% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Electricity generation having 30.93% weight increased by 11.4% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 10.2% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  

Cement production having 4.41% weight increased by 9.8% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 10.1% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 22.57% weight increased by 10.3% in September 2026 over September 2025, and its cumulative index rose by 1.0% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Coal production having 5.59% weight increased by 10.7% in September 2026 over September 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 1.0% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.   

Crude Oil production having 7.43% weight declined by 1.4% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index fell by 3.7% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.73% weight declined by 11.7% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index slipped by 7.6% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 3.84% weight declined by 4.6% in September 2026 over September 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 4.4% during April to September 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22649.70, down by 161.65 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 22554.85 and 22785.00. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.03%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.88%, ICICI Bank up by 0.84%, Cipla up by 0.78% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Nestle India down by 3.00%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.92%, Eternal down by 2.69%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 2.59% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1666.24 points or 2.65% to 62,955.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 846.34 points or 1.84% to 46,041.43, Hang Seng declined 740.87 points or 3.23% to 22,911.00, KOSPI dropped 201.89 points or 3.65% to 5,533.77, Straits Times fell 24.13 points or 0.45% to 5,413.86 and Shanghai Composite weakened 55 points or 1.5% to 3,658.03, while Jakarta Composite gained 59.58 points or 1.11% to 5,387.94.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 78.03 points or 0.73% to 10,674.85, France’s CAC fell 119.38 points or 1.51% to 7,802.30 and Germany’s DAX lost 283.74 points or 1.12% to 25,361.30.

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