Sensex jumps 1,534 points as Asia crashes: Nifty ends at 22,997 in its best day in four months

While stock markets across North Asia crashed, Indian shares had their best day in four months. The Sensex closed at 74,315.61, up 1,533.72 points (2.11%). The Nifty 50 ended at 22,997.35, up 374.65 points (1.66%), after touching 23,056.40 during the day.

That wiped out Wednesday's loss and took the Nifty above Tuesday's close of 22,721.95. But the gains were narrow. Heavyweights did the lifting while most smaller stocks fell.

• Nifty 5022,997.35, +374.65 pts (+1.66%). 41 of its 50 stocks rose.
• Sensex74,315.61, +1,533.72 pts (+2.11%).
• Midcap / SmallcapNifty Midcap 100 −0.36%, Nifty Smallcap 100 −1.31%.
• Breadth2,606 stocks fell and 1,592 rose, according to HDFC Sky.

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

India up, Asia down

South Korea's KOSPI closed 7.57% lower at 5,554.23, its seventh straight fall, and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 4.90% to 64,425.90. Two worries drove the selling. First, September US inflation came in hot: consumer prices rose 0.6% in the month and 3.7% from a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August. That revived fears of another US rate hike. Second, reports of debt stress at US cloud company CoreWeave hit AI-linked chip stocks. SK Hynix fell 11.06% and Samsung Electronics 9.48%. On Wall Street overnight, the Nasdaq fell 1.88%.

India has little exposure to AI chipmakers. Geojit's Vinod Nair said the global tech sell-off improved India's relative appeal, and investors bought large-cap tech, private financials and defensive stocks. Lower bond yields, a steadier rupee, softer crude and hopes that equity taxation could be reconsidered also helped, he said.

Why US rates matter here: how a Fed hike pulls money out of India.

Sectors: private banks and IT led

IT gained 1.82% after HCLTech's September-quarter results beat expectations, HDFC Sky reported. Private banks rose 1.89%. ICICI Bank, Reliance and HDFC Bank alone added about 193 points to the Nifty, by DSIJ's count.

State-run lenders went the other way. IDBI Bank fell 8% to ₹83.07 after the Cabinet approved a ₹52,878-crore stake sale to Fairfax at a discount. YES Bank fell about 20% after the Supreme Court upheld the quashing of its ₹8,415-crore AT-1 bond write-off.

Top movers

Tech Mahindra led the Nifty with a 4.75% gain. Reliance (+3.44%) and Bharti Airtel (+3.31%) rose after Jio Platforms set out plans for what HDFC Sky called India's largest IPO. Nestle India fell 7.76% to ₹1,275.80, even though September-quarter profit rose 36.3% to ₹1,026.8 crore on 20.5% higher sales. Outside the Nifty, Tata Communications jumped 10.19% after an 86.3% rise in quarterly profit.

Rupee, oil and flows

The rupee rose for a fifth straight session and closed provisionally at ₹95.05 to the dollar, up 12 paise, according to PTI. It has gained 183 paise over five sessions, helped by RBI intervention and traders unwinding dollar bets. Brent crude futures fell 1.82% to $104.13 a barrel. Read what $100-plus oil does to India.

Foreign investors sold a net ₹1,857.44 crore of shares on Wednesday, the latest exchange data showed, while domestic institutions bought ₹2,670.44 crore, according to DSIJ.

What to watch next

• ResultsWipro, Tech Mahindra, Persistent Systems, Jio Financial Services and HDFC AMC report today. Federal Bank and Bajaj Housing Finance report on Friday. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank report on Saturday, 17 October.
• Jio Platforms IPOPrice band ₹1,065–1,119, fresh issue of up to ₹30,213 crore, open 21–23 October. Zetwerk, Tonbo Imaging and Bonfiglioli Transmissions opened their IPOs today. See how an IPO works.
• BreadthA rally led by a few heavyweights, with small caps falling, is fragile. Analysts want to see wider buying and a return of foreign money.
• LevelsLKP Securities sees support for the Nifty at 22,800 and resistance at 23,200.
• GlobalWhether the Asian sell-off spreads, US bond yields, and Fed signals after the hot CPI print.

Yesterday's update: Nifty slips as wholesale inflation jumps to 11.39%.

Educational content only, not investment advice.