Tuesday, 29 September 2026. This is what happened in the market today, taken from exchange data and news reports. It is a record of the session, not a view on where the market goes next: I don't publish levels, targets or trade ideas.
Today was the monthly expiry of September futures and options (here is what changes on expiry days). The Nifty fell 0.28% to 22,716.20, its lowest close since 2 April, and ended the September series 6.65% lower. It recovered most of an early drop before the close. This morning's pre-market report set out the overnight news, and yesterday's report covered Monday's broad fall.
Today's numbers
| Market | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 22,716.20 | −64.05 pts (−0.28%) |
| Sensex | 72,529.07 | −242.65 pts (−0.33%) |
| Bank Nifty | 54,259.95 | −211.70 pts (−0.39%) |
| Nifty Midcap 100 | 59,319.40 | −0.99% |
| Nifty Smallcap 100 | 19,193.55 | −0.81% |
| India VIX | 13.34 | −2.20% |
| USD/INR | 95.95 | Rupee 2 paise stronger (provisional close) |
| Brent crude | $106.86 | −0.40% (Indian afternoon, PTI) |
How the day went
The Nifty opened at 22,732.45, 47.80 points below Monday's close. It fell for most of the first half hour and touched 22,569.65 between 9:35 and 9:40 AM, 210.60 points below Monday's close. That was its lowest level since 6 April 2026, when it touched 22,542.95.
It then recovered. Its high for the day, 22,753.25, came shortly after noon, a whisker above the 22,753.20 it had reached in the first five minutes. It slipped back after about 12:15 PM, moved sideways for the rest of the afternoon and closed at 22,716.20, 146.55 points above the low.
The close was set in the closing auction. In Kite's five-minute data the index sat at 22,683.75 from 3:15 PM, when continuous trading in F&O stocks stops, until the final value of 22,716.20 came in, 32.45 points higher. Even so, it was the Nifty's lowest close since 2 April 2026, when it ended at 22,713.10.
The Sensex fell 242.65 points after touching 72,064 during the day. India VIX rose as high as 14.77 before closing 2.20% lower at 13.34. It closed at 10.35 as recently as 23 September.
Sectors: consumer durables, realty and IT fell most
| Nifty index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Durables | 37,129.95 | −2.71% |
| Realty | 833.85 | −2.00% |
| IT | 27,670.00 | −1.48% |
| Auto | 26,173.35 | −1.33% |
| FMCG | 44,790.30 | −1.05% |
| PSU Bank | 7,972.80 | −0.66% |
| Energy | 36,509.75 | −0.50% |
| Private Bank | 26,443.15 | −0.13% |
| Financial Services | 24,648.50 | −0.09% |
| Media | 1,540.95 | +0.11% |
| Pharma | 26,933.65 | +0.64% |
| Metal | 12,954.45 | +0.78% |
Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 17 rose, 32 fell and one, ONGC, closed unchanged.
Titan fell the most, down 3.00% to ₹4,675. I didn't find a company announcement behind the fall. Four IT stocks were among the biggest fallers: Wipro fell 2.95%, HCL Technologies 2.44%, Tech Mahindra 2.06% and TCS 1.85%. Infosys went the other way. It dipped to ₹980.40 during the day but closed 1.22% higher at ₹1,015.40. Apollo Hospitals fell 2.27%.
Reliance fell 1.30% to ₹1,182 and touched ₹1,181.80, below Monday's low of ₹1,197, which had been its lowest price in 52 weeks.
Correction to yesterday's report: its table of Reliance and the big private banks used prices from before the closing auction. Monday's official closes were ₹1,197.60 for Reliance, ₹719.05 for HDFC Bank, ₹1,302 for ICICI Bank and ₹401.55 for Kotak Mahindra Bank.
On the other side, pharma stocks rose: Dr Reddy's gained 2.53% and Sun Pharma 1.47%.
Adani shares rose after a SEBI settlement
Adani Enterprises rose 5.01% to ₹2,972.90 and Adani Ports 4.49% to ₹1,822, the two biggest gainers in the Nifty 50. On Monday evening, Business Standard reported that SEBI's case over the group's compliance with the rule that listed companies keep a minimum share of their stock with the public had been closed through settlement. Those settling were Gautam Adani, four group companies (Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Adani Energy Solutions) and 13 others. Together, the 18 parties paid ₹1.48 crore.
Tata Trusts' plan for Tata Sons
Tata Trusts has proposed merging two unlisted group companies, Tata Electronics Systems Solutions and Tata Consulting Engineers, into Tata Sons. According to Free Press Journal and Outlook Money, adding operating businesses would mean Tata Sons is no longer mainly an investment company. That would let it hand back its licence as a non-banking finance company, and with it the rule that would have required it to list its shares. The proposal needs approval from the Tata Sons board and the RBI.
Business Standard linked falls in several Tata group shares to the news. Tata Chemicals closed 4.30% lower and Tata Investment Corporation 2.95% lower. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles dropped as much as 3.39% to ₹272.20 but closed only 0.28% down. Not all group shares fell: Tata Steel ended 0.91% higher, Tata Consumer Products 0.80% and Tata Elxsi 0.65%.
BSE joins the Nifty 50 tomorrow
BSE Ltd replaces Wipro in the Nifty 50 from Wednesday, 30 September, after NSE Indices' half-yearly review. BusinessToday reported that BSE's average free-float market value over six months was ₹1,40,879 crore, against Wipro's ₹55,930 crore. BSE shares rose 3.31% to ₹3,200 today, while Wipro fell 2.95% to ₹156.79.
The September series in numbers
- Over the series: from the August expiry on 25 August, when the Nifty closed at 24,334.55, to today, it fell 1,618.35 points, or 6.65%.
- In September: it is down 5.67% so far, from 24,080.40 at the end of August. Wednesday is the last trading day of the month.
- Over two days: since Friday's close of 23,140.50, the Nifty has fallen 424.30 points, or 1.83%.
The rupee and oil
The rupee opened at 96.03 to the dollar, weakened to 96.15 and then recovered to close at 95.95 (provisional), 2 paise stronger than Monday's final close of 95.97. That final close is slightly better than the provisional 96.03 I reported yesterday. PTI linked the recovery to possible RBI intervention near the 96 mark and to softer oil prices, and said dollar demand from importers held back gains. The dollar index was at 101.44, up 0.24%.
Brent crude was 0.40% lower at $106.86 a barrel during the Indian afternoon, PTI reported. On MCX, October crude oil futures were at ₹8,798 a barrel at 8:50 PM, 1.27% below Monday's close.
FII and DII flows
NSE's provisional figures for today were not available in a form I could check when this report was published. I'll include them in tomorrow's pre-market report.
For reference, on Monday foreign institutional investors sold a net ₹5,353.22 crore of Indian shares and domestic institutions bought a net ₹5,189.02 crore.
Tomorrow and this week
- Wednesday, 30 September: BSE joins the Nifty 50 and Wipro leaves. Four IPOs list: Adroit Industries, Swastika Infra, Elevate Campuses and ArMee Infotech. It is also the first session of the October F&O series, whose monthly contracts expire on Tuesday, 27 October.
- Friday, 2 October: markets closed for Gandhi Jayanti.
- Wednesday, 7 October: RBI policy decision.
What I'll check before tomorrow's open
These are the data points I'll look at, not a forecast:
- Where GIFT Nifty trades overnight compared with today's Nifty close of 22,716.20.
- NSE's provisional FII and DII figures for today.
- Brent crude after the US session, and the rupee when currency trading opens at 9:00.
Sources
- Index, sector and stock prices, intraday path and India VIX: Zerodha Kite market data (NSE, BSE and MCX)
- Market close, stock movers and the Tata group reaction: Business Standard, BusinessToday, Upstox
- India VIX close: HDFC Sky
- Adani settlement: Business Standard
- Tata Trusts proposal: Free Press Journal, Outlook Money
- BSE and Wipro in the Nifty 50: BusinessToday
- Rupee, Brent and dollar index: PTI via HDFC Sky, PTI via Deccan Herald
- Closing auction session: NSE, Zerodha
- FII and DII flows (Monday): NSE provisional data via Kotak Neo
- IPO listings: Business Standard
- RBI meeting dates: 5paisa
This note summarises public news and data for information only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. I am not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst.