Indian shares fall to near six-month lows, Rupee weakens on oil surge

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

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By Dehuti Jani

Dehuti Jani is an experienced project manager who also works as an independent financial journalist.

September 28, 2026 at 12:20 PM IST

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as US-Iran peace talks reached a deadlock, pulling benchmark Indian equity indices to near six-month lows. This takes domestic equities’ declining streak to seven weeks. The Nifty 50 fell 360.25 points, or 1.56%, to 22,780.25, while the Sensex declined 1,124.02 points, or 1.52%, to 72,771.72.

The indices have fallen nearly 6% over the past seven weeks, marking one of their longest losing streaks on record. All 16 major sectoral indices ended lower, while the Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 fell 1.63% and 1.85%, respectively.

US President Donald Trump said he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting, while Iran said diplomacy was the only way to resolve its conflict with the US and Israel.

The deadlock raised concerns over oil supplies through the key shipping route, pushing Brent crude futures up 3.7% to $108 a barrel. Higher oil prices pose risks for India, the world's third-largest crude importer, by raising inflationary pressures, widening the import bill and squeezing corporate margins.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Adani Enterprises and Jio Financial Services were the top Nifty 50 losers. The Nifty PSU Bank was the worst-performing sector, while Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Bank also underperformed. Nifty IT outperformed with the least decline among the major sectoral indices.

The rupee weakened 0.2% to 95.9825 per US dollar, its weakest level in more than a week, as higher oil prices weighed on the currency and regional risk sentiment. Dollar sales by state-run banks, likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, helped limit the rupee's losses.

Government bond prices extended their decline as traders remained wary of additional supply of longer-tenure securities in the second half borrowing calendar, and increasingly expected the Reserve Bank of India to announce more open-market operation auctions ahead of next week's policy review. The yield on the benchmark 6.94%, 2036 government bond ended at 7.1848% from 7.1194% on Friday. The 7.20% level is emerging as the next psychological resistance, while traders see yields around 7.19%-7.20% as attractive levels to buy bonds.

Top Movers of the Day
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories led the Nifty 50 gainers by rising 1.67% to close at 1,221.00 rupees. The stock witnessed heavy defensive buying as investors sought safety in pharmaceutical counters amid severe broader index volatility.

Adani Enterprises declined 2.71% to close at 3,025.10 rupees, dragging down the conglomerate basket. The stock faced heavy selling pressure as rising crude oil prices and global macro tensions triggered foreign fund outflows from high-beta names.

Vodafone Idea plunged 5.54% to finish the session at 13.47 rupees amid high-volume churn. The counter recorded massive trading activity with over 5.002 billion shares changing hands as investors reacted to ongoing capital restructuring developments.

PC Jeweller shed 4.11% to end at 13.53 rupees, pulling back sharply from its recent upward momentum. Despite the correction, the stock was one of the most heavily traded entities on the exchange, clocking a volume of 4.05 billion shares.

Hero Motors slid 4.72% today as auto stocks bore the brunt of the wider market correction. Increased volume concentrated around the counter failed to shield it from index pressure, which pulled down auto and retail mobility blocks alike.

Airfloa Rail Technology tumbled 5.07% to close near 535.00 rupees despite revealing fresh business wins. Investors aggressively booked profits following the official disclosure of a new 73.3-million-rupee railway interior supply contract.

Adani Ports and SEZ dropped 2.48% as global maritime logistics uncertainty weighed heavily on port operators. Heightened geopolitical friction in the Strait of Hormuz sparked supply chain anxieties, driving investors away from high-exposure shipping infrastructure networks.

Tata Consumer Products closed 2.44% lower as premium consumer fast-moving goods felt the strain of rising input pressures. Shifting global microeconomic queues and tight domestic liquidity forced tactical offloading across discretionary and household retail names.

Futures & Options
The Nifty September 2026 futures closed at 22,918.90, a premium of 138.65 points over the Nifty 50's cash-market close of 22,780.25. The Nifty 50 fell 360.25 points, or 1.56%, during the session, while the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of near-term volatility, jumped 12.54% to 13.69.

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

Bonds
The yield on India’s benchmark 6.94%, 2036 government bond rose further on Monday as traders remained wary of additional supply of longer-tenure securities in the second half borrowing calendar and increasingly expected the Reserve Bank of India to announce more OMO auctions ahead of next week's policy review. The yield on the benchmark 6.94%, 2036 government bond rose to 7.1848% at 1700 IST from 7.1194% on Friday, its highest level since April 2024.

Elevated crude oil prices and negative overseas cues also weighed on sentiment. Expectations of additional OMO auctions by the RBI before next week's policy review added to selling pressure. The market was also closely watching the 250-billion-rupee OMO auction, with traders saying demand below expectations could trigger further selling in government bonds.

Forex
The Indian rupee ended at 95.9825 per US dollar on Monday, down from Friday's close of 95.8125, as a sharp rise in crude oil prices, higher US Treasury yields and likely foreign portfolio outflows weighed on the currency. Persistent RBI dollar selling, however, prevented the rupee from weakening beyond the 96 per US dollar level.

The rupee opened at 95.8800 per US dollar and moved in an intraday range of 95.8750-95.9975. The currency came close to breaching the psychological 96 level, but RBI intervention through dollar sales helped limit the decline.

Higher crude prices increased pressure on the rupee by raising concerns over India's import bill and demand for dollars from oil importers. Likely FPI outflows from Indian equities also added to dollar demand and weighed on the domestic currency.

Crypto
The cryptocurrency market pulled back on Monday as macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions weighed on risk appetite. Bitcoin fell around 2% over the past 24 hours to trade in the $82,975-$84,900 range, down from a recent peak of $87,400.

Ethereum also remained subdued, trading around 2,655-2,690 as traders faced resistance near recent level

US Stock Futures
US stock futures fell early Monday following last week’s gains, as Treasury yields remained elevated near multiyear highs. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 0.38%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.46%, while Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.99%.

Higher oil prices added to pressure on equity futures, with Brent crude rising more than 1% to $105.86 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate gaining about 1% to $93.20. Oil prices rose after President Donald Trump rejected conditions for a ceasefire proposed by Iran.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury note yields remained near multiyear highs on Monday, with the 10-year yield holding around 5.21% and the 30-year yield near 5.52%, following a broad global bond-market sell-off.

Fading hopes for a diplomatic resolution in West Asia pushed Brent crude back towards $106 a barrel, renewing concerns over energy-driven inflation. The yield curve remained relatively flat, with the 2-year/10-year spread at around 17 basis points, as markets priced a roughly 68% probability of another Federal Reserve rate hike next month ahead of key US labour-market and GDP data due later this week.

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Indian shares fall to near six-month lows, Rupee weakens on oil surge