On Thursday, October 1, the Indian benchmark indices SENSEX and NIFTY50 fell sharply, with SENSEX dropping 1.64% to an intraday low of 71,292.88 and NIFTY50 falling 1.8% to 22,217.30. At 2:09 PM, the S&P BSE SENSEX was at 71,450.39, a 1.42% decline of 1,029.90 points, while NSE’s NIFTY50 stood at 22,268.20, down 1.56% or 352.25 points. The downturn was driven by weak global cues, a weakening rupee and continued foreign fund outflows, which weighed on investor sentiment.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹10,148.41 crore on Wednesday, whereas domestic institutional investors bought equities worth ₹11,271.73 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data. The India VIX surged as much as 15% to an intraday high of 15.49, reflecting heightened market volatility. Among the top losers were Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Shriram Finance and Eicher Motors, while HDFC Life Insurance, HDFC Bank, SBI Life Insurance, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers.

Auto stocks tumbled, dragging the Nifty Auto index down over 4% as investors reacted to September 2026 vehicle sales data and Brent crude oil prices around $98 per barrel. FMCG shares such as ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Godrej Consumer Products, Dabur and Tata Consumer Products faced selling pressure amid concerns over weak consumption growth, rising input costs and margin pressures, compounded by uncertainty over rural demand recovery and broader equity market weakness.

Power and allied companies gained after the Union Cabinet approved the ₹1.86 lakh crore PM‑DHARA Scheme, aimed at strengthening intra‑state transmission and deploying 50 GWh of battery storage to evacuate 135 GW of renewable energy. Shares of Power Grid Corporation of India, Adani Energy Solutions, GE Vernova T&D India, Hitachi Energy India and CG Power and Industrial Solutions rose, reflecting optimism about the scheme’s impact on the transmission network.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) rallied 17.3% to an intraday high of ₹26.94 after its board approved the sale and transfer of a 20,895.60 sqm property in Powai to the Income Tax Department at ₹891.53 crore via a Government‑to‑Government transfer, following Presidential and Alternative Mechanism approvals. Kotak Mahindra Bank shares rose 4.5% to ₹435.60 after the RBI approved Anup Kumar Saha’s appointment as MD & CEO effective January 1, 2027, with the board to formalise the move.

Molbio Diagnostics experienced a 19.5% jump, reaching an intraday high of ₹1,564.30 as HDFC Mutual Fund purchased 23 lakh shares, acquiring a 2% stake at an average price of ₹1,315 for ₹302.45 crore through open market transactions on Wednesday. Motilal Oswal Alternates sold a little over 2% stake for ₹306 crore, while Business Excellence Trust III offloaded 23.28 lakh shares at the same average price, totaling ₹306.26 crore. Sterlite Technologies shares climbed 5% to a 52‑week high of ₹955.35 after securing a $1.2 billion Long‑Term Supply Agreement with a hyperscale partner, valid until December 2030.