Mumbai, October 12 (Daily Kiran) : The Indian stock market experienced a downturn on October 12, 2026, closing in the red. By the end of the trading session, the Sensex had declined by 547.65 points, or 0.76 percent, settling at 71,924.68. Similarly, the Nifty fell by 157.10 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 22,363.35.
Selling pressure was most pronounced in the FMCG and public banking sectors. The Nifty FMCG index dropped by 1.67 percent, while the Nifty PSU Bank index fell by 1.18 percent, marking them as the top losers. Other indices such as Nifty Infra, Nifty Services, Nifty IT, Nifty Consumption, Nifty Commodities, and Nifty Oil and Gas also faced significant declines.
Conversely, some sectors saw gains, including Nifty Media, Nifty India Defense, Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty, Nifty India Manufacturing, Nifty Pharma, Nifty PSE, and Nifty Energy, which all closed in positive territory.
In contrast to large-cap stocks, mid-cap and small-cap stocks saw buying interest. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose by 272.10 points, or 1.42 percent, closing at 19,425.80, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index increased slightly by 47.25 points to finish at 58,834.55.
Among the gainers in the Sensex pack were BEL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, and Titan. However, major losers included ITC, Tech Mahindra, HUL, L&T, SBI, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Indigo, Tata Steel, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Trent, Axis Bank, NTPC, Eternal, and Power Grid.
Experts noted that the Indian market could not sustain its initial gains due to the highest 10-year bond yield in three years and persistent selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) amid external uncertainties. A recovery in the rupee was aided by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) special window for oil marketing companies’ dollar needs, which helped alleviate pressure on the currency.
They further indicated that the banking sector faced the most significant declines following the RBI’s need to increase daily cash reserve ratio (CRR) maintenance to absorb excess liquidity. Investors are now awaiting domestic CPI inflation data for signs of further monetary tightening. Meanwhile, rising tensions in the Middle East remain a major concern, particularly due to ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi and regional energy infrastructure, raising fears of potential supply disruptions and high crude oil prices.
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