The Sensex and Nifty fell sharply in early trade on Wednesday, dragged down by IT stocks, rising crude oil prices and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 601.14 points to 72,997.55, while the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 146 points to 22,604.80. On Tuesday, the Sensex had dipped 8.08 points, or 0.01 per cent, to settle at 73,598.67, and the Nifty had ended 3.45 points lower at 22,749.75.
Among Sensex constituents, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC and Asian Paints were among the biggest laggards. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) jumped over 4 per cent after the engineering major reported a 32.5 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,202.10 crore for the quarter ended September 2026, driven by higher revenue. State Bank of India and Axis Bank were also among the gainers in the blue-chip pack.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 1.36 per cent higher at USD 115.4 per barrel, while WTI crude continued to trade around USD 100 to 101 a barrel. Rising oil prices weigh on the market because India imports most of its crude requirement. Investors were also tracking the Fed decision, global market movements, energy prices and the Jio Platforms listing. Gold and silver scaled fresh highs on global cues and hopes of a US Federal Reserve rate cut.