Taking Stock: Nifty below 25,950, Sensex falls 151 pts; IT, pharma, realty drag

Market Today

Indian benchmark indices remained under pressure on October 28 amid selling seen across the sectors barring metal and banks.

Amid mixed global cues, the market opened marginally lower. Despite the initial hour recovery, the benchmark indices traded lower for most part of the session. However, the final hour recovery helped to erase some of the intraday losses.

At close, the Sensex was down 150.68 points or 0.18 percent at 84,628.16, and the Nifty 50 was down 29.85 points or 0.11 percent at 25,936.20. BSE Midcap and smallcap indices ended almost flat.

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On the sectoral front, metal and PSU Bank indices rose 1.2 percent each, while IT, pharma, FMCG and realty shed 0.5-1 percent.

Bajaj Finserv, Trent, Coal India, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and Nestle India were among top losers on Nifty 50, while top gainers included JSW Steel, Tata Steel, SBI Life Insurance, L&T and HDFC Life.

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In stock-specific action, Bata India shares slipped nearly 7 percent intraday after Q2 profit declined 73 percent, Indus Towers shares added 3 percent post Q2 results, Sai Silks (Kalamandir) shares hit 52-week high as Q2 profit jumps 68  percent, JK Tyre and Industries shares jumped 3 percent as Q2 profit zoomed 64 percent, Canara Robeco AMC shares shed 4 percent after Q2 standalone profit slipped.

Index	Prices	Change	Change%
Sensex	75,273.45	1,205.00	+1.63%
Nifty 50	23,306.45	394.05	+1.72%
Nifty Bank	53,708.10	1,102.45	+2.10%

Nifty 50 23,306.45 394.05 (1.72%)

Wed, Mar 25, 2026

• 1D
• 5D
• 1M
• 3M
• 6M
• 1Y
• 2Y

Biggest Gainer	Prices	Change	Change%
Shriram Finance	956.00	52.40	+5.80%

Biggest Loser	Prices	Change	Change%
Tech Mahindra	1,408.50	-24.20	-1.69%

Best Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty PSU Bank	8581.05	223.50	+2.67%

Worst Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty IT	29671.30	22.40	+0.08%

Multi Commodity Exchange of India share price slipped 2 percent as trading was halted for most part for the session, Bondada Engineering shares slipped 7 percent despite better Q2 earnings, Newgen Software Technologies shares gained 10 percent after Q2 profit jumped 64 percent, Premier Explosives shares rose 3.5 percent on order win worth Rs 429.6 crore.

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Nearly 160 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including City Union Bank, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Indian Bank, SBI Life Insurance, Laurus Labs, HBL Engineering, Hindalco Industries, PNB, Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Canara Bank, Paytm, Grasim Industries, Cummins India, among others. Click to View More

Outlook for October 29

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The market remained highly volatile on the NSE monthly F&O expiry day. However, the overall chart setup on the daily timeframe remains intact, with the Nifty trading well above the 21EMA, keeping the bullish bias intact.

The RSI is in a bullish crossover and remains in the high momentum zone. In the short term, the index may witness a decent rally as momentum picks up above 26,000. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 26,300, while support is placed at 25,850.

Siddhartha Khemka - Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services

Indian equities witnessed high volatility with benchmark indices swinging between gains and losses on Nifty’s monthly expiry. Nifty50 ended with a marginal loss of 30 points at 25,936 (-0.1%). Most sectoral indices ended lower, led by declines in realty, IT, financial services and FMCG, reflecting profit booking amid cautious sentiment ahead of US Fed’s Interest rate decision tomorrow. However, selective buying in Metals (+0.9%) and PSU banks (+0.8%) lent some support, helping limit overall downside in an otherwise subdued market session.

PSU Banks were in focus as government is planning to significantly increase FDI limit in state-run banks to 49% from the current 20%. We see strength in banking stocks, as they benefit from a favourable credit cycle and strategic capital inflows.

Shares of several EMS companies surged after the government announced the first set of approvals under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), clearing seven projects involving investments of Rs 5,532 crore with a projected output of Rs 44,406 crore.

On the global macro front, investors would closely track the outcome of the US FOMC meet on Wednesday, where the Federal Reserve is widely expected to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points. Overall, we expect the markets to remain firm, tracking positive global cues, macro-economic data and domestic Q2 earnings. Key result announcements on Wednesday include L&T, Coal India, VBL, HPCL, CG Power, Radico amongst others.

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