Nifty slips 0.44% to 22,622 as wholesale inflation jumps to 11.39%; IT and FMCG hold firm

A day after a sharp rally, Indian shares gave some of it back. The Sensex closed at 72,781.89, down 251.89 points (0.34%). The Nifty 50 ended at 22,622.70, down 99.25 points (0.44%). On Tuesday both had jumped about 1.6%.

The fall was mild and the wider market was calmer than the headline indices. The Nifty Midcap 100 slipped just 0.08% and the Smallcap 100 0.32%. On the NSE, 2,351 stocks actually rose and 1,694 fell.

• Nifty 5022,622.70, −99.25 pts (−0.44%). It opened near 22,716, failed to hold above 22,700 and dipped toward 22,550 before recovering a little.
• Sensex72,781.89, −251.89 pts (−0.34%).
• Midcap / SmallcapNifty Midcap 100 −0.08%, Nifty Smallcap 100 −0.32%.

New to the indices? See how the Sensex and Nifty work.

Why the market fell

A hot wholesale inflation number. India's WPI inflation rose to 11.39% in September from 9.92% in August, data released today showed. Fuel and power prices were up 25.85% from a year ago, and inflation in manufactured goods hit 9.76%, a high for the current series. Business Standard reported that the print pushed bond yields higher, which hurt rate-sensitive autos, private banks and metals.

Higher wholesale prices tend to feed into retail prices with a lag. For retail prices, read what drove it.

Oil. Brent crude rose toward $106–107 a barrel after reports of an attack on a Saudi Aramco building in Dhahran and fighting involving Yemen's Houthis. PTI put Brent at $106.37 around the close of currency trading. Here is what $100-plus oil does to India.

Foreign selling. Foreign institutional investors sold a net ₹1,305.13 crore of shares on Tuesday, their 13th straight session of selling, while domestic institutions bought ₹2,439.24 crore. HDFC Sky put foreign outflows for 2026 at a record $32.52 billion. Our Fed and FPI explainer explains why.

Profit-taking and caution. After Tuesday's IT-led jump, traders booked gains ahead of US inflation data due tonight.

Sectors: IT and FMCG up, pharma and financials down

Nifty IT added 1.25% after a 5.2% surge on Tuesday that followed HCLTech's results. FMCG rose 0.94%. Pharma was the worst sector, down 1.47%. Sun Pharma fell 2% to ₹1,733.15, a five-month low, and Dr Reddy's was among the Nifty's losers. Non-bank lenders and insurers were hit hardest within financials.

Top movers

Nestle India, which reports results on Thursday, led the Nifty with a 3.69% gain. Shriram Finance fell 3.85%, and Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv each lost about 2.6%.

Results moved several stocks outside the Nifty. Canara Bank rose 5% after an 8.4% rise in net profit to ₹5,174.76 crore. BHEL gained 4.17% after its consolidated profit more than doubled to ₹820.94 crore. Tata Elxsi rose about 5.7% on higher quarterly profit.

Rupee

The rupee rose for a fourth straight session. It closed provisionally at ₹95.17 to the dollar, up 19 paise from Tuesday's 95.36, according to PTI. Over four sessions it has gained 171 paise. Dealers credited the RBI's new curbs on speculative currency bets, a softer dollar and easing US bond yields. The central bank raised the repo rate to 5.50% last week.

What to watch next

• US inflationSeptember US CPI is due at 8:30 am New York time today (6 pm IST). Forecasts cluster around 3.6–3.7%, up from 3.4% in August. A hot number could push US yields up and add to foreign selling.
• Thursday's resultsWipro, Tech Mahindra, Persistent Systems, Nestle India, Jio Financial Services, IRFC and HDFC AMC.
• Banks on SaturdayHDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank report on 17 October.
• LevelsAnalysts see support for the Nifty around 22,500 and resistance around 22,800.
• Oil and flowsBrent above $106 and the foreign selling streak remain the main pressures on the market and the rupee.

For the bigger picture, read how the Nifty ended its eight-week losing streak.

Educational content only, not investment advice.