The bears were back at Dalal Street on Wednesday. After Tuesday’s roaring 1,100-point comeback, benchmark indices surrendered early gains and closed lower as soaring crude and persistent Fll selling outweighed strong earnings cheer.
The BSE SENSEX ended at 72,781.89, down 251.89 points or 0.34% at 3:32 PM IST. It opened higher at 73,049.76, jumped to an intra-day high of 73,195.26 in the first hour, then tumbled 616 points to a low of 72,578.75 as profit booking kicked in. Previous close was 73,033.78. Its 52-week high is 86,159.02 and low is 71,292.88.The NSE NIFTY 50 closed at 22,622.70, down 99.25 points or 0.44% at 3:31 PM IST. It opened at 22,715.75, touched a high of 22,757.95 and a low of 22,558.95 before settling lower. Previous close was 22,721.95 after Tuesday’s 358-point surge.Its 52-week high is 26,373.20 and low is 22,179.90.
The intraday chart shows the story – flat-to-green till 11:30 AM and then a sharp red vertical fall, followed by sideways consolidation. India VIX rose 5-6% indicating return of volatility. Of 38 BSE sectors, 31 declined and only 7 advanced. Large-cap down 0.14%, Mid-cap down 0.37%, Small-cap down 0.14%. Total BSE traded stocks 4,500 plus, advance-decline turned negative after positive Tuesday.
1: THREE REASONS BEHIND TODAY’S FALL
According to ET Markets and NDTV Profit live blogs:
1) Crude At $106.6 – Saudi Risk: Brent crude futures rose 89 cents or 0.8% to $106.58 a barrel, WTI gained 80 cents or 0.9% to $94.94 by 0030 GMT. In India morning, Brent quoted at $106.2, up 0.5%. This after Brent fell 0.9% on Tuesday. Reason: Saudi supply risk. Houthi attacks on Aramco building in Dhahran caused limited fire and raised fears of disruption to processing facilities and export terminals. Kotak Neo estimates landed cost for India is $130-140 per barrel versus futures $106, because freight, insurance and handling have doubled for non-Gulf oil. Before war, insurance was negligible.
For India, every $10 rise in crude adds 30-40 bps to inflation and $15 bn to import bill. OMCs, paints, aviation, FMCG felt pressure.
2) FII Selling Streak: Foreign Institutional Investors sold Rs 1,305.13 crore on Tuesday, taking sell streak to 12 straight sessions. So far in 2026, Flls have pulled over $30 billion, making India worst performing major market YTD, down 7%. DIls bought Rs 4,743 crore on Monday and similar amount Tuesday, but not enough to offset.
3) Global Cues Weak: US closed lower Tuesday -Dow down 0.35% to 51,670, S&P 500 flat down 0.02%, Nasdaq down 0.15%. Fed’s John Williams said one more hike likely this year, but no hikes in 2027. Asia mixed – Nikkei up 0.37%, Kospi up 1.46% after 6% crash, Shanghai up small, Hang Seng up small. US 10-year yield held near 5.23%, near 24-year high.
BUSINESS BEAT – TATA ELXSI ROARS 8%, CANARA BANK, BHEL, GROWW EARNINGS ON DECK
Q2FY27 is driving stock-specific moves.
Tata Elxsi – Top Gainer: Shares surged 8.16% to Rs 3,706 intra-day despite bearish targets, after Q2 numbers met Street. Revenue Rs 1,055.7 crore, up 3.4% QoQ from Rs 1,021 crore and 15% YoY, constant currency 2.3% QoQ. EBITDA Rs 231.4 crore, up 7.1% QoQ, margin 21.9%. EBIT Rs 207.8 crore, up 7.3% QoQ, margin 19.7% up 70 ps. Net profit Rs 170.3 crore, up 10% YoY and flat QoQ. US market grew 7.9% QoQ, Transportation up 2% CC QoQ, Media & Comms up 3.4% CC QoQ. CEO Manoj Raghavan said strong overseas growth and new customer wins.
Broader broker view remains cautious -Underweight target Rs 3,400, Nirmal Bang Hold Rs 3,825, 360 ONE Sell Rs 2,840 due to muted European auto demand and high valuations.
Lineup Today: 27 companies report today – BHEL,Canara Bank, ICICI Lombard, Groww, CEAT, Tata Technologies, MRPL, Bajaj Consumer, HDB Financial, ICICI Pru AMC, Elecon, Sonacoms, MRPL, RIIL, Hathway, Emmvee, Hathi. BHEL board approved Rs 500 crore capex for thermal & nuclear sets at Haridwar and merger of Electrical Machines Repair Plant Mumbai and Electronics Division Bengaluru into single unit from Nov 1. Canara Bank up 2% ahead of results. Groww and Angel One also in focus as retail trading volumes recover.
Other Movers: Transformers and Rectifiers (TARIL) jumped 15% as profit surged 135% YoY to Rs 79.8 crore, revenue up 60.7% to Rs 739 crore, margin 17.4%. Nestle India top Nifty gainer up 2.25% to Rs 1,364. Shriram Finance biggest Nifty oser down 4.11% to Rs 947.35, followed by insurance and pharma names. BSE IT up 1.69% still, led by TCS, HCLTech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra. Financials, Danks, FMCG dragged.
Policy Buzz: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanninted at reviewing LTCG and STT at Bloomberg Forum, lifting sentiment Tuesday. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India open to deeper rade ties with trusted partners including China, inal chapter with China yet to be written. BHEL Rs 2.6 lakh crore order book provides strong evenue visibility.
RUPEE FIGHTS BACK, BUT RBI MAY HIKE RATES
Rupee closed at 95.50, up 0.4% from 95.77 previous close, after hitting lifetime low 96.73 last week. RBI’s special dollar window from Oct 12 for OMCS IOC, BPCL, HPCL to meet dollar demand off-market reduced spot pressure. Dollar index held above 102.But inflation worry rises. Kotak Neo Head Anindya Banerjee said headline CPI may rise above 6% by December from 5.4% in September due to $130-140 landed crude cost, plus food inflation, prompting RBI to hike rates by at least 50 bps this fiscal. PGIM’s Vinay Paharia said correction brought valuations to long-term averages, West Asia risks external, unlikely to alter medium-term India growth.
GEOPOLITICS – HORMUZ SHIPS HIT, ARAMCO BUILDING BURNING, IRAN PLAYS MIDTERM CARD
Oil market is now geopolitics-driven.
Aramco Under Fire: Saudi energy ministry confirmed administrative building of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran hit, causing limited fire. Dhahran is nerve centre of Aramco operations. This is 4th attack on Riyadh International Airport in a week, Saturday strike killed 13 including US citizen, 300 injured.Hormuz Tanker Attacks: Container ship andtanker hit by unknown projectiles in Strait of Hormuz, UKMTO said. Iran-aligned Houthis escalated ballistic missile and drone strikes on Saudi over past week in retaliation for Saudi support to Yemeni government forces. Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters Iran deploying new tactics to target ships in Strait to keep oil high and influence US midterm elections Nov 3. “Attacks on ships crossing Strait and military strikes between Saudi and Houthis supporting prices as exports held up,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
OPEC said Tuesday Saudi raised oil production last month despite war, leading to sharp OPEC+ increase, and raised demand forecast for 2027 citing need to rebuild stocks. In Russia, government
said no direct link between peace talks with Ukraine and diesel export deal to US – Russia to supply 300k tons immediately, 500k tons in Nov, 1 mn tons later.
Oil outlook: Nissan Securities Investment projects WTI to trade $90-100 near term, but risk of $120 if Gulf infrastructure hit.
OUTLOOK: 22,600 IS IMMEDIATE SUPPORT Technically, Nifty needs to hold 22,558-22,600 to avoid fall to 22,400. Resistance at 22,757 and 23,100. For Sensex, support 72,578, resistance 73,195. Analysts advise stagger buying, favour IT with earnings visibility, FMCG with rural recovery, and avoid aggressive leverage till crude stabilises and FII selling stops.
