Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Wednesday amid profit-taking after a sharp rally in the previous session, as a spike in wholesale price-based inflation and firm crude oil prices hit investor sentiment. Continued foreign outflows also added pressure to Indian equities. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,305.13 crore on Tuesday.
Both Sensex and Nifty ended lower in the volatile session, weighed down by weakness in Healthcare, Auto and Realty stocks. However, gains in Utilities, Power and IT shares helped cushion the decline. Investors also turned cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data due later in the day for directional cues.
Some of the important factors in trade:
Wholesale inflationary pressures intensify in India in September: India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose significantly in the month of September 2026 to 11.39 per cent, as compared to 9.92 per cent in August 2026, due to a sharp rise in fuel and power, food and manufactured product prices.
India, Canada discuss advancing trade pact talks: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and Canada have discussed advancing negotiations for the proposed trade pact to provide deeper market access for each other's goods and services.
RBI to continue efforts to curb rupee volatility: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the RBI will continue its efforts to prevent excessive volatility in the rupee, which has depreciated ‘very significantly’ over the past year and a half.
Railway stocks remain in watch: The Railway Board has said that Indian Railways loaded 135.35 million tonnes of freight in September 2026, compared to 127.52 million tonnes in September 2025, registering a year-on-year growth of 6.14 per cent.
Global front: European markets were trading higher as investors cheered strong results from ASML and awaited the release of U.S. CPI data later in the day for additional clues on the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory. Asian markets settled mostly lower even as pressure on tech stocks eased and dovish Fed remarks spurred expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not need to raise interest rates aggressively next year.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 251.89 points or 0.34% to 72,781.89 and the CNX Nifty was down by 99.25 points or 0.44% to 22,622.70.
The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 73,195.26 and 72,578.75, respectively. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.07%, Power up by 1.74%, IT up by 1.41%, Energy up by 1.28% and FMCG up by 1.14%, while Healthcare down by 0.93%, Auto down by 0.87%, Realty down by 0.80%, Telecom down by 0.73% and Metal down by 0.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.64%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.49%, TCS up by 1.42%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.09% and Reliance Industries up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.52%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.47%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.85% and Sun Pharma down by 1.82% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose significantly in the month of September 2026 to 11.39 per cent, as compared to 9.92 per cent in August 2026, due to a sharp rise in fuel and power, food and manufactured product prices.
Year-on-year (YoY) inflation accelerated across all three major groups in September 2026. Inflation in Primary Articles rose to 8.67 per cent from 7.76 per cent in August, while Fuel and Power inflation increased to 25.85 per cent from 22.93 per cent. Manufactured Products inflation also edged up to 9.76 per cent from 8.37 per cent in the preceding month. Correspondingly, the indices for Primary Articles, Fuel and Power, and Manufactured Products increased to 120.3, 110.5, and 110.2, respectively, in September 2026 from 118.1, 108.3, and 108.8 in August 2026.
Further, WPI Food Index, consists of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles major group, and ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ from Manufactured Products major group, observed a YoY inflation of 8.66 per cent in September 2026, compared to 7.05 per cent in August 2026.
Meanwhile, all India Output PPI for All Commodities for September 2026 stands at 112.5, whereas it was 110.8 in August 2026. Output PPIs for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying; Manufactured Products; and Electricity are 118.7, 129.2, 111.0, and 92.0, respectively, in September 2026, whereas those were 116.5, 122.0, 109.7, and 90.9, respectively, in August 2026.
CNX Nifty touched high and low of 22,757.95 and 22,558.95, respectively. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Nestle India up by 3.69%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.91%, Infosys up by 2.44%, TCS up by 2.11% and Coal India up by 2.08%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 3.85%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.85%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.47% and SBI Life Insurance down by 2.20% were the top losers.
European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 33.51 points or 0.31% to 10,683.84, France’s CAC rose 42.77 points or 0.55% to 7,870.40 and Germany’s DAX gained 164.5 points or 0.65% to 25,424.40.
Asian markets settled mostly lower on Wednesday due to caution ahead of US inflation data which will provide cues of the Federal Reserve's next policy move, while rising crude oil prices amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels also added pressure. Market sentiment weakened further after Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML said it would be unable to fully meet demand in 2027 and 2028, fuelling concerns over the sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom. However, some losses were limited as US Treasury yields eased following dovish remarks from New York Fed President John Williams, who stated that one additional rate hike may be appropriate late this year. He also indicated that further tightening might not be necessary in 2027.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,767.23 | -33.64 | -0.88 |
Hang Seng | 24,314.17 | -31.05 | -0.13 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,943.02 | 17.04 | 0.29 |
KLSE Composite | 1,627.72 | 4.37 | 0.27 |
Nikkei 225 | 67,744.29 | -33.23 | -0.05 |
Straits Times | 5,423.33 | -7.17 | -0.13 |
KOSPI Composite | 6,008.81 | -26.54 | -0.44 |
Taiwan Weighted | 48,625.83 | 284.52 | 0.59 |
