Sensex Falls 0.48% on Oct 28, 2026 as Infosys Leads IT Selloff

Key takeaways

• The BSE Sensex fell 352.64 points, or 0.48%, to 73,246.03 on October 28, 2026, while the Nifty 50 slipped 50.90 points, or 0.22%, to 22,698.85, according to Yahoo Finance exchange data.
• IT stocks led the decline: the Nifty IT index lost 1.98% to 31,553.40 and Infosys fell 3.43% to ₹1,123.15 after a cut to its FY27 revenue guidance and a wave of brokerage downgrades.
• Larsen & Toubro rose 3.72% to ₹3,801.30 on the NSE after reporting a 33% jump in second-quarter net profit to ₹5,202 crore.
• Bank stocks recovered from early losses: the Nifty Bank index closed 0.54% higher at 54,267.40.
• Jio Platforms listed at ₹1,358 on the NSE and BSE, a 21.36% premium to its ₹1,119 issue price, ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day.

Session recap

Indian benchmarks ended lower but well off their lows on Wednesday. The Sensex dropped as far as 72,603.57 during the session and the Nifty 50 as low as 22,497.70 before buying in banks, L&T and auto stocks narrowed the losses, Yahoo Finance data show. Business Remedies also reported a 353-point fall in the Sensex and a Nifty close below 22,700. For the wider picture, see Asian and global markets today; for the previous session, read our India stocks brief for October 27, when both indices ended almost flat.

Previous closes used for the changes: Nifty 50 22,749.75, Sensex 73,598.67, Nifty Bank 53,974.90, Nifty IT 32,189.45, L&T ₹3,665.10, Infosys ₹1,163.00. The USD/INR line is Yahoo Finance's composite quote, not the onshore interbank close. The Reserve Bank of India's website showed the FBIL reference rate at ₹95.2278 per dollar as of 1:00 pm IST (07:30 UTC), with the policy repo rate at 5.50%.

Business Remedies reported that the oil and gas index fell more than 2%, while auto, consumer durables, media and pharma stocks gained and small-cap indices outperformed the large-cap benchmarks.

What drove it

Infosys guidance cut and the AI capex debate

Technology shares were the main drag for a second straight day. Infosys had cut its FY27 constant-currency revenue growth forecast to 1%–2% from 1.5%–3%, Investing.com reported, with the company's CFO pointing to "slower project volumes, pricing pressure, and increasing customer demands for productivity gains." Business Today reported on Wednesday that at least six brokerages had downgraded the stock this week. It also said a growing pipeline of AI infrastructure spending, highlighted by figures in Anthropic's IPO filing, had dashed hopes of a rotation back into IT services. TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCLTech and Mphasis were also lower in morning trade, according to Business Today and BusinessLine.

Brokerage Anand Rathi, quoted by Business Today, said: "The escalating capital intensity, funding requirements & utilisation risks remain concentrated in the infrastructure layer." Markets elsewhere in Asia took a different view of the same AI theme: South Korea's KOSPI and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose strongly, BusinessLine reported.

Earnings: L&T offsets part of the drag

Larsen & Toubro was the standout gainer after reporting results on Tuesday evening. Angel One reported that second-quarter consolidated net profit rose 33% to ₹5,202 crore and revenue rose 16% to ₹78,750 crore, with order inflows of ₹1,47,665 crore. Its EBITDA margin narrowed to 8.7% from 10%. Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki were among early gainers, BusinessLine reported.

Oil and West Asia tensions

Crude remained a headwind for an oil-importing economy. BusinessLine reported that Brent traded above $115 a barrel in early trade after an attack on a Saudi Arabian refinery. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan of HST Wealth told the publication that "the principal concern is how long oil stays elevated," while Hitesh Tailor of Choice Broking said "sentiment remains cautious amid ongoing West Asian tensions."

Foreign and domestic flows

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of ₹4,240.39 crore on October 27, while domestic institutions were net sellers of ₹1,250.03 crore, India TV News reported. BusinessLine said the domestic selling ended a five-session buying streak. Provisional flow data for October 28 had not been published when this brief was written.

Jio Platforms debut

Reliance Industries' telecom and digital arm, Jio Platforms, listed at ₹1,358 on both exchanges, 21.36% above its issue price, Upstox and Groww reported. The ₹30,213 crore fresh issue was subscribed 22.19 times. Background on the offer is in our Jio Platforms IPO allotment and listing guide.

Political & policy watch

• US Federal Reserve: The Federal Open Market Committee's October 27–28 meeting ends today, according to the Fed's calendar. BusinessLine reported that markets expect the Fed to hold rates at 3.75%–4.00%. Our explainer on the Fed's October meeting sets out the debate.
• Reserve Bank of India: The RBI's policy repo rate stands at 5.50%, per its website. The rupee is trading around 95 per dollar; on October 27 it closed at 95.11, up 8 paise, BusinessLine reported.
• West Asia: Analysts quoted by BusinessLine linked cautious sentiment to tensions in the region and the attack on Saudi oil infrastructure. Further supply disruption would feed into India's import bill and inflation.
• Capital markets: Jio Platforms' listing follows what BusinessLine described as India's largest-ever IPO, a test of primary-market appetite during a period of heavy foreign selling. Geojit's V K Vijayakumar told BusinessLine that foreign portfolio outflows had reached $31 billion so far this year.

What to watch next

Risk checklist for readers

• Company guidance changes can move entire sectors: an outlook cut from one large IT firm often reprices its peers on the same day.
• Central bank decisions abroad, especially the Fed, can shift the dollar and foreign portfolio flows into Indian equities within hours.
• Oil above $100 a barrel raises India's import bill and can weigh on the rupee; watch both together.
• Provisional FII/DII figures are revised later; treat single-day flow numbers as indicative, not final.
• Listing-day prices of large IPOs can be volatile and do not indicate long-term performance.
• Check final closing data on NSE and BSE, and policy statements on the RBI and Fed websites, rather than relying on intraday snapshots.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.