Monday, 19 October 2026. The Nifty fell 257.20 points (1.11%) to 22,888.95 as the market's first look at the weekend's private bank results went badly: Axis Bank dropped 4.19% and HDFC Bank 2.31%. Kotak Neo put the fall down first to weakness in heavyweight bank shares, and The Week named the two lenders as the top laggards. The state-run banks went the other way. Nifty PSU Bank rose 2.46% after Punjab National Bank's quarterly profit grew 12.8%, the only one of the ten sector indices I track to close higher. The Sensex lost 876.37 points.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 22,888.95 | −257.20 pts (−1.11%) |
| Sensex | 73,852.90 | −876.37 pts (−1.17%) |
| Bank Nifty | 55,488.10 | −355.90 pts (−0.64%) |
| Nifty Private Bank | 27,189.10 | −511.45 pts (−1.85%) |
| Nifty Midcap 100 | 58,487.95 | −641.80 pts (−1.09%) |
| Nifty Smallcap 100 | 18,935.75 | −194.05 pts (−1.01%) |
| India VIX | 14.77 | +0.71 (+5.05%) |
The Bank Nifty fell less than the Nifty: alongside the private lenders that fell, it holds state-run banks such as SBI, which rose.
Axis Bank's profit rose 38%, and the shares fell 4.19%
Axis Bank opened at ₹1,264.90, already below Friday's ₹1,290.00, never traded above that opening price, touched ₹1,225.30 and closed at ₹1,236.00, the biggest fall in the Nifty 50. On the headline number the quarter looked strong. Business Today reported net profit up 38% from a year earlier to ₹7,003 crore, net interest income up 12%, loans up 23% and deposits up 20.7%, with fresh bad loans lower than in both the June quarter and the same quarter last year.
What the market reacted to was the margin. The net interest margin, the gap between what the bank earns on loans and pays on deposits, slipped 10 basis points from the June quarter to 3.36%. Axis said that without the effect of its FCNR-B foreign-currency deposits the margin was 3.47%, flat on the quarter. Business Today put the share fall down to that margin pressure and to operating costs, which outweighed the loan growth and the cleaner book. It is the same pattern Wipro showed in reverse on Friday: a share price on results day moves on the comparison with what was expected, not on the headline profit (why that happens).
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank: slower profit, a narrower margin, a departure
HDFC Bank closed ₹16.85 (2.31%) lower at ₹712.00. Its standalone net profit for the September quarter rose 4.7% to ₹19,509.96 crore, from ₹18,641.28 crore a year earlier, The Week and IndMoney reported. Net interest income grew 9.7% to ₹34,620 crore, but treasury trading gains fell to ₹780 crore from ₹2,390 crore. The bank also said Deputy Managing Director Kaizad Bharucha will step down by the end of the calendar year.
ICICI Bank fell 1.15% to ₹1,381.00. Its numbers, reported on Saturday, were the strongest of the three: net profit up 20.1% to ₹14,843.03 crore and net interest income up 17.7% to ₹25,339 crore, according to Business Today. Its margin narrowed too, to 4.18% from 4.36% in the June quarter and 4.3% a year earlier, while the gross bad-loan ratio improved to 1.20%.
Yes Bank, the fourth Saturday reporter, fell 3.54% to ₹16.88. Federal Bank swung the other way within the day: it was down 3.46% at about 9:40 AM, according to Business Upturn, and closed 3.21% higher at ₹348.85.
The state-run banks had the opposite day
Punjab National Bank's September-quarter net profit rose 12.8% to ₹5,532 crore from ₹4,904 crore, net interest income grew 10.8% to ₹11,601 crore and its gross bad-loan ratio fell to 2.55% from 2.78% in June, Upstox and the Free Press Journal reported. Business Standard reported a 30% rise in Union Bank of India's quarterly profit alongside better asset quality.
| Bank | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Union Bank of India | ₹180.70 | +5.25% |
| Punjab National Bank | ₹121.90 | +4.82% |
| Canara Bank | ₹122.00 | +3.14% |
| SBI | ₹973.70 | +1.15% |
| ICICI Bank | ₹1,381.00 | −1.15% |
| HDFC Bank | ₹712.00 | −2.31% |
| Yes Bank | ₹16.88 | −3.54% |
| Axis Bank | ₹1,236.00 | −4.19% |
Nifty PSU Bank closed at 8,294.10, up 199.15 points. Nifty Private Bank lost 1.85% on the same day, a gap of more than four percentage points between the two halves of the banking system.
Consumer and IT shares fell further than the index
Outside the banks, the heaviest selling was in FMCG and IT. Hindustan Unilever fell 2.14% to ₹1,853.20, Nestle India 1.80% to ₹1,242.70 and Tata Consumer Products 1.27%. In IT, Infosys lost 2.63% to ₹1,130.70 four days before its own results on Friday; Wipro gave up 1.23% and Tech Mahindra 0.61% after their rises last week. Nifty IT had gained 12.61% over the four sessions to Friday. I found no company-specific news for Infosys today.
| Nifty index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| PSU Bank | 8,294.10 | +2.46% |
| Media | 1,643.90 | −0.26% |
| Metal | 12,066.40 | −0.55% |
| Energy | 35,974.45 | −0.60% |
| Pharma | 25,615.00 | −0.65% |
| Auto | 25,591.25 | −0.69% |
| Realty | 816.05 | −1.20% |
| IT | 31,516.30 | −1.28% |
| FMCG | 43,975.50 | −1.44% |
| Financial Services | 24,987.10 | −1.58% |
| Fell most in the Nifty 50 | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Axis Bank | ₹1,236.00 | −4.19% |
| Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles | ₹278.00 | −3.09% |
| Infosys | ₹1,130.70 | −2.63% |
| Bajaj Finance | ₹957.35 | −2.52% |
| Apollo Hospitals | ₹7,700.00 | −2.41% |
| UltraTech Cement | ₹10,650.00 | −2.36% |
| HDFC Bank | ₹712.00 | −2.31% |
| Rose most in the Nifty 50 | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| JSW Steel | ₹1,241.30 | +2.06% |
| ONGC | ₹225.00 | +1.35% |
| SBI | ₹973.70 | +1.15% |
| Larsen & Toubro | ₹3,661.90 | +0.96% |
| Eicher Motors | ₹7,349.00 | +0.89% |
| Adani Ports | ₹1,766.00 | +0.87% |
I found no reported reason for the moves in Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Apollo Hospitals, UltraTech or JSW Steel.
The high came in the first quarter-hour, the low after 1:30 PM
The Nifty opened at 23,150.85, 4.70 points above Friday's close, and made the day's high of 23,175.25 in the first 15-minute candle. By the end of that candle it was at 22,981.90. It came straight back in the 9:30 candle, closing it at 23,144.95, and briefly traded above Friday's close again, up to 23,155.95 in the 9:45 candle. From 10:00 AM it never got back above Friday's close.
From 11:30 AM the index fell candle by candle, closing the noon candle at 22,946.05 and reaching the day's low of 22,845.00 in the 1:45 PM candle, 301.15 points (1.30%) below Friday. From 2:00 PM to the close it stayed between 22,845.25 and 22,900.65, and it closed 43.95 points above the low. The full range was 330.25 points. India VIX rose 5.05% to 14.77 after trading between 13.32 and 14.97 (what the VIX measures).
Oil eased from a five-month high
Brent crude was down 1.56% at about $108.14 a barrel in the evening, according to Trading Economics, which put the dip down to profit-taking after a 5% rise last week took prices to a five-month high. Kotak Neo still listed elevated oil prices among the day's pressures, alongside the bank shares. Elsewhere the mood was firmer: Kotak Neo reported S&P 500 futures up 0.8%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.3% and the Shanghai Composite 0.6% higher.
Today's FII and DII provisional figures were not out when I checked this evening: 5paisa still showed Friday, and NSE's page timed out. On Friday foreign institutions bought a net ₹1,165.90 crore and domestic institutions sold ₹3,661.30 crore, NSE's provisional data showed. Today's figures will be in Wednesday's pre-market report (how to read FII and DII data).
A holiday, then a ₹30,213 crore IPO
- Tuesday, 20 October: NSE trading holiday.
- Wednesday, 21 October: the Jio Platforms IPO opens. It is a fresh issue of up to 27 crore shares at ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 each, raising ₹28,755 crore to ₹30,213 crore, in lots of 12 shares. It closes on Friday.
- Friday, 23 October: Infosys reports its September-quarter results.
- Wednesday, 28 October: expected listing date for Jio Platforms.
Before Wednesday's open I will be looking at today's FII and DII figures, whether any other lender reports over the holiday, and how GIFT Nifty trades on Tuesday while the Indian market is shut. This morning's pre-market report set out the weekend's results as they stood before the open; Friday's post-market report covers the IT rally that unwound a little today.
Sources
- Index, sector and stock prices, the intraday path and India VIX: Zerodha Kite market data (NSE and BSE)
- Market close and reasons, global markets: Kotak Neo
- Axis Bank results and share reaction: Business Today
- HDFC Bank results and leadership change: The Week, IndMoney
- ICICI Bank results: Business Today
- PNB results: Upstox, Free Press Journal; Union Bank: Business Standard; Federal Bank's early fall: Business Upturn
- Brent crude: Trading Economics; Friday's FII and DII flows: NSE provisional data via 5paisa
- Jio Platforms IPO: HDFC Sky, Groww; Infosys results date: Genvest; holiday: NSE holiday list
This note summarises public news and data for information only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and I don't publish levels, targets or trade ideas. I am not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst.