Stories
Sensex Dips 172 Points, Nifty Below 22,600; Auto, Pharma Drag Market Down
- •Indian equity markets opened lower with Sensex down 172 points and Nifty below 22,600, driven by broad selling pressure.
- •Nifty Auto, Healthcare, and Pharma indices were major laggards, with M&M being the weakest Sensex stock.
- •IT stocks like Infosys, TCS, and HCL Technologies, along with private banking stocks, bucked the trend with gains.
- •Broader markets also showed weakness, with Nifty Next 50, Midcap 150, and Smallcap 250 all declining.
- •FII selling intensified, with significant outflows in the last two trading days, influenced by rising US bond yields.
Key Questions Answered
The domestic equity markets opened lower on Thursday, October 1, 2026, with selling pressure across broader markets. At 9:22 am, the BSE Sensex fell 172 points to 72,308.01, and the Nifty 50 dropped 65.50 points to 22,554.95.
The Nifty Auto index dropped 2.07% as one of the biggest laggards, with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) sliding 2.36% as the weakest Sensex stock. Other sectors under pressure included healthcare, pharma, cement, oil and gas, and realty, alongside major stock losers like UltraTech Cement, BEL, Larsen & Toubro, and IndiGo.
V K Vijayakumar noted that sustained FII selling intensified as US 10-year bond yields rose to 5.3%, though FIIs continued investing in primary markets and expensive mid-and small-caps. He views this as a short-term phase that could reverse when crude prices decline, advising investors to accumulate high-quality large-caps.
