Indian Equities Rise as Oil Stays Below $100; Rupee Weakens

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

By Dehuti Jani

September 23, 2026 at 12:47 PM IST

Indian equities advanced on Wednesday as oil prices remained below $100 a barrel on hopes of progress in US-Iran talks, although continuing uncertainty over the conflict capped gains. The Nifty50 rose 117.80 points, or 0.5%, to 23,446.80, while the Sensex gained 299.17 points, or 0.4%, to 74,828.25. Fifteen of the 16 major sectoral indices ended higher.

Oil prices were near their lowest level in more than two weeks after US President Donald Trump said his envoys had held productive talks with Iranian mediators, while Saudi Arabia restored supply through a key Red Sea pipeline. The easing in crude prices provided relief to oil-import-dependent India and supported domestic equities. The Nifty MidCap and SmallCap indices rose 0.7% and 0.89%, respectively.

The Nifty Metal index outperformed, gaining more than 2%, while FMCG stocks also advanced. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and Hindalco Industries were the top Nifty 50 gainers. Nifty IT was the only major sectoral laggard.

The Indian rupee fell 0.1% to 95.74 per US dollar from 95.59 in the previous session as expectations of further US Federal Reserve rate hikes supported the dollar.

Government bond yields rose as crude prices moved back towards $100 a barrel and traders placed short bets ahead of Monday’s final tranche of planned OMO sales. The yield on the benchmark 6.94%, 2036 government bond rose to 7.0447% from 7.0106% on Tuesday, after touching a session high of 7.0411%.

Top Movers of the Day

SS Retail surged 59% intraday to ₹765 after listing at a 51% premium to its ₹424 IPO price, with heavy volumes supporting the strong debut.

Hero Motors hit the 20% upper circuit at ₹98.40, rebounding sharply after its 2% decline on debut, with heavy retail participation and short-covering supporting the move.

Adani Ports and SEZ rose 0.43% to ₹1,802.80 after the Adani group settled a SEBI case related to related-party transaction disclosures by paying about 15 million rupees.

Persistent Systems fell 2.39% to ₹5,238 as it continued its acquisition of Nagarro, buying an additional 61.15% stake to raise its total holding to 83.25%. The additional acceptance period runs from September 23 to October 6.

Sundaram Finance declined 1.53% to ₹4,679 amid selling in financial stocks and profit booking.

Varroc Engineering fell 2.86% to ₹839.85 amid selling in auto-ancillary and engineering stocks.

Steel Authority of India gained 6.37% to ₹181.10, leading gains among metal stocks, due to ongoing momentum from its recent strong April- June quarter financial results.

Arvind SmartSpaces rallied 6.77% to ₹628 after bookings for its new Bengaluru residential project crossed ₹5 billion.

Clean Max Enviro Energy jumped 6.33% to 1,454 rupees after Macquarie initiated coverage with an “Outperform” rating.

360 ONE WAM rose more than 4% to ₹1,120 after appointing Aashish Agarwal, former head of Jefferies India, as CEO of its WAM group.

Airtel Money was in focus after announcing plans for a London IPO, with IFC agreeing to buy up to £67.2 million of offer shares.

Futures & Options
The Nifty September 2026 futures closed at 23,455, a premium of 8.2 points over the Nifty's cash-market close of 23,446.80. The Nifty 50 index rose 117.80 points, or 0.50%, to 23,446.80, while India VIX fell 6.41% to 10.29.

HDFC Bank, Infosys and Reliance were the most-traded individual stock futures contracts on the NSE. The September 2026 F&O contracts will expire on September 29, 2026.

Bonds
Indian government bond yields rose as crude oil prices inched up towards $100 a barrel after hopes of a peace deal in West Asia dimmed. The benchmark 6.94%, 2036 bond yield rose to 7.0447% from 7.0106%, while the 6.36%, 2031 bond yield rose more than 4 basis points to 6.7310%. Traders added short positions, particularly in shorter-tenure bonds, ahead of Monday’s 250-billion-rupee OMO sale.

Brent crude rose to $99.53 a barrel, renewing concerns over inflation and the monetary policy outlook. Some traders also feared the RBI could announce another tranche of OMO sales before its October 5-7 policy review. However, expectations of Saudi Arabia resuming crude exports to full capacity offered some support, limiting the decline in gilts.

Forex
The Indian rupee fell 0.1% to 95.74 per US dollar on Wednesday from 95.59 in the previous session, tracking weak Asian currencies as expectations of further US Federal Reserve rate hikes supported the dollar. The dollar index has risen more than 1% since the Fed raised rates last week, with interest-rate futures pricing around 75 basis points of additional hikes over the next 12 months.

Dollar sales by state-run banks, likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, helped limit the rupee's losses. The central bank also likely conducted dollar-rupee sell/buy swaps to drain excess banking-system liquidity. Oil prices remained below $100 a barrel as improving Gulf crude supplies and hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the US-Iran conflict eased supply concerns.

Crypto
The cryptocurrency markets remained firm, with Bitcoin trading around $86,350 and Ethereum near $2,780. The move was supported by $364.4 million in single-day net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs and continued inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs, while more than $769 million in forced liquidations added to the upward momentum.

Lower Treasury yields and falling oil prices following easing geopolitical tensions also supported broader risk appetite.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures were little changed early Wednesday as oil prices fluctuated amid fresh uncertainty over the conflict between the US and Iran. S&P 500 futures were marginally higher, while Nasdaq-100 futures dipped below the flatline. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.04%.

Futures pared earlier gains after Brent crude oil futures turned higher, reversing losses seen overnight.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury note yields edged lower early Wednesday as global borrowing costs cooled and oil prices extended a six-day decline. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell around 2 basis points to 4.94–4.96%, remaining below the 5% level breached earlier this month. The two-year yield eased to around 4.75%, while the 30-year yield traded near 5.28%.

Bond investors remained cautious ahead of upcoming economic data and Treasury supply auctions following the Federal Reserve’s recent rate hike. Expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates continued to keep longer-dated yields elevated.

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Indian Equities Rise as Oil Stays Below $100; Rupee Weakens