The SENSEX fell as much as 762 points on Wednesday, October 28, while the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 22,559. The decline was driven by losses in major names such as Infosys, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ITC and HCL Technologies. At 9:21 a.m., the SENSEX stood at 72,892, down 706 points or 1%, and the NIFTY50 was at 22,610, down 137 points. The drop followed a gap‑down opening triggered by broad‑based selling pressure after crude oil traded above $115 per barrel.

Asian markets opened higher on optimism over artificial intelligence ahead of earnings from Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, and other major tech companies, as well as the Federal Reserve’s interest‑rate decision. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.44%, China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.31%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.16% and South Korea’s KOSPI index surged 6.12%. Overnight, U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, powered by gains in Nvidia. The Nasdaq index jumped 1.18%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.03% and the S&P 500 index rose 0.6%.

Brent crude futures for delivery in December rose 1.25% to trade above $115 per barrel after Iran‑backed Houthis claimed a missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, raising concerns about oil supply from the region. Back home, selling pressure was broad‑based as all 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange, barring the auto sector, were trading lower. The NIFTY IT index fell 3.3%, while NIFTY FMCG, Metal, Bank, Financial Services, Pharma, PSU Bank, Realty, Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.5% and 1.35%. The NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.5% and the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index was flat.

Among the individual shares, United Breweries jumped 15% to an intraday high of ₹1,316 after it reported its September quarter earnings. The company’s net sales growth of 24% exceeded volume growth by 8 percentage points, reflecting accelerated premiumisation and disciplined revenue management, the company said in an exchange filing. Piramal Pharma jumped 13% after it reported a net profit of ₹5 crore in the second quarter against a loss of ₹99 crore in the same period last year. Infosys was the top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock dropped 4.66% to ₹1,108. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consumer Products, TCS, ONGC, ITC, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank also fell between 1.8% and 3.2%.

On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock jumped 5% to ₹3,848 after it reported a 33% jump in its consolidated net profit at ₹5,202 crore for the quarter ending September 30 of the financial year 2026-27. The infrastructure major had seen a profit of ₹3,926 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. L&T’s revenue from operations for the quarter under review was at ₹78,750 crore, marking a growth of 16% from ₹67,984 crore reported in the second quarter of FY26. Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospitals, SBI Life, Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India, Trent, IndiGo, Hindalco, Max Healthcare and Eicher Motors were also among top gainers in the NIFTY50 index. The overall market breadth was negative as 1,707 shares were declining while 1,216 were advancing on the NSE.