Sensex ends down 548 points, Nifty closes below 22,400; ITC, Tech Mahindra fall 3%

The Indian stock market ended Monday’s session in the red, with both benchmark indices extending losses amid broad-based selling pressure. The Sensex closed 547.65 points, or 0.76%, lower at 71,924.68, while the Nifty 50 settled 157.10 points, or 0.70%, down at 22,363.35.

Both benchmark indices had opened the session in positive territory but reversed their gains and moved into the red during intraday trade. The selling pressure persisted as the session progressed, pushing the indices lower.

Among sectoral indices, auto, media and realty stocks were trading in positive territory. On the other hand, FMCG, information technology (IT) and public sector bank (PSU bank) stocks were among the key laggards, trading in the red.

The Indian rupee strengthened at the start of Monday’s trade, rising nearly 1% to 95.76 against the US dollar. The gain came after the Reserve Bank of India announced steps over the weekend to reduce demand for dollars and limit speculative trading in the currency market.

Crude oil prices were lower in early trading, but remained significantly higher than their pre-war levels, along with elevated US bond yields.

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Monday, October 12. The Sensex declined 547.65 points, or 0.76%, to close at 71,924.68, while the Nifty 50 fell 157.10 points, or 0.70%, to settle at 22,363.35.

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 1.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 0.84%, Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 0.66% and HCL Technologies added 0.47%. On the losing side, ITC fell 3.23%, Tech Mahindra declined 3.10%, Hindustan Unilever slipped 2.10%, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) lost 1.87% and State Bank of India (SBI) dropped 1.78%.

Indian benchmark indices remained under pressure in late trade on Monday. The Sensex fell 762 points, or 1.05%, to 71,710.33, while the Nifty 50 declined 211 points, or 0.94%, to 22,309.45.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 1.23%, Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 0.40% and Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 0.38%. On the other hand, ITC fell 3.38%, Tech Mahindra declined 3.30%, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) slipped 2.14% and Hindustan Unilever lost 2.13%.

The Reliance Industries share price was under pressure today, down 1.2% from the previous close. The stock has fallen for the fourth consecutive session and also hit an 18-month low of Rs 1,155.10 apiece on NSE.

The stock has declined over 9% in the last one month and over 11% in the last three months.

The Viviana Power Tech share price jumped 9% intraday today, before giving up some of the gains.

The company won a new turnkey contract worth Rs 466.74 crores from Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.

The Swaraj Engines share price surged nearly 15% today after the company reported robust earnings for Q2FY27.

Its net profit for the quarter rose 22% YoY to Rs 60.57 crore and its revenue increased 26% to Rs 635.19 crore.

Tech Mahindra shares fell as much as 4% ahead of the company’s board meeting scheduled for later this week. The board is set to consider a bonus share issue alongside the company’s quarterly results.

If approved, this would be Tech Mahindra’s first bonus issue in more than 11 years. The company last issued bonus shares in March 2015, when shareholders received one additional share for every share held under a 1:1 bonus issue.

The Sensex fell 523.18 points, or 0.72%, to 71,949.15, while the Nifty 50 declined 126.65 points, or 0.56%, to 22,393.80.

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 1.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 1.24%, Trent advanced 0.34% and Kotak Mahindra Bank added 0.33%. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra fell 3.09%, ITC declined 2.91%, Bharti Airtel lost 1.79% and Hindustan Unilever slipped 1.70%.

Shares of Avenue Supermarts, which operates the DMart retail chain, opened nearly 4% lower after the company announced its second-quarter results for Q2FY27 on Saturday. The stock came under selling pressure as investors reacted to the earnings announcement.

The decline adds to the stock’s recent losses following the company’s Q2 business update earlier this month. Avenue Supermarts shares have fallen more than 11% since the update, indicating continued weakness in the stock ahead of Monday’s trading session

The Meesho share price surged over 5% intraday today, before giving up some of the gains.

The company said its mega blockbuster sale saw strong demand, opening with around 75% YoY growth in Day 1 orders.

Suzlon Energy shares have fallen 31% in the past three months, but Motilal Oswal has retained its ‘Buy’ rating on the wind turbine manufacturer with a target price of Rs 65. The brokerage sees potential upside of 73% from current levels, supported by the company’s strong order book, expected recovery in deliveries and rising demand for wind power in India.

According to Motilal Oswal, Suzlon’s 5.9 gigawatt (GW) order book at the end of the first quarter of FY27 provides delivery visibility through the third quarter of FY28. The brokerage expects deliveries to rise 35% year-on-year to 3.3 GW in FY27 and increase further to 3.8 GW in FY28. It also sees opportunities in wind farm repowering, exports and the company’s development model, alongside growing demand for wind-solar hybrid and firm renewable energy projects.

After opening higher, the benchmark indices slipped in trade today. The Sensex was down over 400 points and was hovering around 72,039.10 points while the Nifty was at 22,426.75 points, down 0.4%.

HCLTech was trading 0.3% lower ahead of its Q2FY27 results.

Shares of Poonawalla Fincorp surged over 7% after the non-banking financial company (NBFC) reported strong Q2FY27. The stock gained as investors reacted to earnings growth and an expansion in assets under management (AUM).

The company also reported an improvement in asset quality, adding to the positive sentiment around its quarterly performance.

Defence, automobile and metal stocks featured among the key gainers, while technology and banking stocks came under pressure in the early trading session.

Among the gainers, Bharat Electronics (BEL) rose 1.36% to Rs 373.50, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which gained 1.29% to Rs 2,828.10. Trent advanced 1.13% to Rs 2,952.95, while Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance each climbed 1.04%.

On the losing side, Tech Mahindra declined 4.48% to Rs 1,449.10, emerging as the biggest laggard in the list. Axis Bank fell 1.01% to Rs 1,246.30, followed by Bharti Airtel, down 0.95%, and ITC, which slipped 0.94%. State Bank of India (SBI) edged lower by 0.53%.

The benchmark indices opened higher, with the Nifty opening 0.4% higher at 22,611.30 points. The Sensex opened over 300 points higher at 72,777.51 points.

Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Nifty 50 in early trade, up 2.7%. Tech Mahindra was down 2.4%.

In the Nifty 200, Lenskart Solutions was 4.4% lower after reports said Alpha Wave can sell its stake in the company.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said, "The market is going through a stage wherein external headwinds are dominating the domestic tailwinds. Elevated crude prices and high US bond yields will continue to impact the market.

FIIs will continue to sell in the near-term and DIIs will continue to absorb the FII selling. This is the likely near- term market scenario.

The million dollar question is how this scenario plays out and where will the market be, say, a few months from now?

The external headwinds and sustained FII selling have made India one of the worst performing markets this year with a -13.87 YTD return. The sharp correction has made valuations fair and, in many segments, attractive. This, along with the impressive GDP growth estimate of 7.1% for FY27 and improving corporate profitability, provides strong fundamental support to the market.

Therefore, investors can accumulate fairly-valued growth stocks ignoring the uncertainty and volatility in the market. For investors with a medium-to-long-term investment horizon, this market provides value buying opportunities. Patience is the key.

If crude declines sharply following favourable developments in the Middle East, the market can rally significantly from the current levels."

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Neo, said, "The benchmark indices witnessed a volatile week, but managed to close in positive territory. The Nifty gained 0.44%, while the Sensex advanced 562 points. Among sectoral indices, Capital Markets and FMCG outperformed, rallying nearly 2.5%. Realty and Metal remained under pressure, declining more than 3.5%.

Technically, the market faced strong resistance near 22,775 on the Nifty and 73,100 on the Sensex before correcting sharply. However, buying support emerged around 22,200 and 71,300, respectively, helping the indices recover some of their losses."

"The broader technical structure remains weak, with the market continuing to form lower tops on daily and intraday charts. However, oversold momentum indicators suggest that a temporary pullback rally cannot be ruled out," he added.

Chouhan noted, "For the Nifty, 22,300 remains a crucial support level. As long as the index sustains above this level, a pullback towards 22,600 is possible, followed by 22,800–23,000. On the downside, a decisive break below 22,300 could intensify selling pressure and drag the index towards 22,150–21,750."

The share price of Premier Energies will be in focus after it said that it received orders worth Rs 4,001 crore in Q2 FY27. The orders were from a mix of major power producers, module manufacturers, EPC companies and other customers.

The Poonawalla Fincorp share price will be in focus after its net profit for Q2FY27 jumped over five times year-on-year to Rs 374.85 crore. Its total revenue from operations rose 70% to Rs 2,624.84 crore.

The KEC Intl share price will be in focus on Monday. The company has received a new order worth Rs 1,014 crore in its India transmission and distribution business, including its first order for setting up of a 765 kilovolt transmission line in western India.

The share price of Avenue Supermarts, the operator of DMart retail stores, will be in focus on Monday after it released its earnings for Q2FY27 over the weekend.

The company reported an 8.5% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 742.98 crore for the quarter, compared with Rs 685 crore in the corresponding period last year. Consolidated revenue from operations and other income, reported as total revenue, rose 17.8% to Rs 19,644 crore in the quarter from Rs 16,676 crore a year earlier.

In Friday’s session, the GMR Group gained 4.9%, followed by the Apollo Hospital Group, which closed 4.6% higher.

The Patodia Group was the worst hit on Friday, ending 6.4% lower, followed by the Nagarjuna Group at 4.2% lower.

In Friday’s trading session, the tobacco sector gained the most, ending 4.1% higher. This was followed by the silver sector, which closed 2.8% higher, and the artificial intelligence sector, which closed 2.7% higher.

The SME sector was the worst hit, ending 0.9% lower.

Foreign institutional investors continued to be sellers, giving up equities worth Rs 3,568.90 crores on Friday, according to NSDL data. Domestic institutional investors remained buyers and purchased shares worth Rs 4,743.26 crores.

COMEX silver was trading higher at $61.51 per ounce in early trade on Monday.

Silver prices in India were at Rs 225.73 per gram on Monday.

COMEX gold was trading slightly higher at around $4,229.6 per ounce in early trade on Monday.

The rate for 24-carat gold today in India is Rs 1,51,440 per 10 grams. The 18-carat gold price today in India is Rs 1,13,580 per 10 grams. The 24-carat gold rate in Dubai today is Rs 1,36,304.97.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) , which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of six foreign currencies, was trading at 102.13. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar with major currencies.

The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, and others. On October 9, the Indian rupee ended at 96.73 against the US dollar.

US stock futures were higher. The US Yield remained at multi-year highs with 10-year yield at 5.24%

US Markets on Friday: US stocks ended higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 400 points or 0.8% and ended at 51,654.95 points. The S&P 500 ended 0.6% higher at 7,811.54 points. The Nasdaq Composite ended around 0.6% higher at 27,366.17.

Crude oil prices traded 1.4% lower in early trading on Monday, with Brent crude oil hovering around $103.30 per barrel. The West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures was 1.4% lower at $90.56 per barrel.

However, crude oil prices remained significantly higher than their pre-West Asia war levels.

Asian markets opened mixed on Monday, October 12. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.3% while the Kosdaq declined 0.7%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6% in early trade.

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.