Sensex Sheds 550 pts at Open as IT Stocks Bleed; Iran Uncertainty, $100 Oil Weigh 

Mumbai, April 22: Indian equity benchmarks erased almost all of Tuesday’s gains as they resumed trading with a gap-down on Wednesday after weak global markets dragged both indices into the red in early trading hours. Stocks reacted poorly to rising oil prices and weak quarterly earnings from HCL Technologies as both Sensex and Nifty opened down over half a per cent.

Sensex snapped 549.66 points or 0.69 per cent to 78,723.67 and Nifty 50 declined 145.55 points or 0.59 per cent to 24,431.05 at 9: 30 am, erasing most gains from previous session within minutes of trade. Losses were broad-based, with heavy-selling in IT stocks after market open following weak quarterly earnings from HCL Technologies which dragged peers lower as well.

Gainers

In early trade, the gainers were few but the losers were many and painful. On the positive side, Nestlé India led the charge, extending Tuesday’s post-results surge by opening at ₹1,391, hitting a morning high of ₹1,423.90 with last trading price (LTP) at ₹1,404.20, up 1.76% from its previous close of ₹1,379.90. Hindalco gained 1.14%, opening at ₹1,030 and trading at ₹1,033.30. SBI Life recovered sharply, touching ₹1,930.60 at its high with LTP at ₹1,927.80, up 0.85% from ₹1,911.60. NTPC added 0.78%, trading near ₹399.30, while Adani Enterprises edged up 0.57% to ₹2,238.70.

Laggards

The laggards, however, dominated the narrative — HCL Technologies was the session’s catastrophic decliner, crashing 8.9% after its quarterly results disappointed, plunging from a previous close of ₹1,441.20 to a morning low of ₹1,301 before recovering slightly to ₹1,312.90. Tech Mahindra fell 3.45% to ₹1,449, Infosys slid 2.54% with a session low of ₹1,272.20, TCS dropped 1.90% to ₹2,560.90, and ICICI Bank slipped 1.25% to ₹1,371.

Middle East Conflict

Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to allow for peace talks to continue, saying the United States had agreed to Pakistani mediators’ requests to delay military action until Iran’s leaders unite behind a proposal but he also said the US naval blockade of Iran will remain in place. Tasnim News Agency, reported by Reuters as affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, quoted an unidentified Iranian official as saying Iran had made no such request for a ceasefire extension and repeated previous threats to force an end to the blockade by any means necessary. An adviser to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said Trump’s announcement of an indefinite ceasefire was aimed at whipping up support for Israel and suggested it could be a ploy. The adviser, Hossein Mousavian, who is critical of Iran’s leadership and lives in Berlin, said Washington had told Tehran’s leaders ‘either you want peace or war,’ so they chose peace.

Asian Markets and US Markets

Asian markets were mixed overnight. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.41% to 26,113 and Australia’s All Ordinaries fell 0.91%. Japan’s Nikkei bucked the downtrend to add 0.32% to 59,542 while the Shanghai Composite Index traded up just 0.12%. US markets closed down on Tuesday too with Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.59%, Nasdaq Composite losing 0.59% while S&P 500 shed 0.63% to 7,064 — raising global market’s risk-off concerns for Indian markets at open on Wednesday.

Oil Prices

Oil continued to trade higher on Wednesday as well. Brent crude traded above $100 a barrel earlier in the session for the first time in months. It settled higher on Tuesday at $99.67, up 4.4%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $92.13 per barrel, up 2.8% after Trump’s announcement that ended overnight volatility. Prices have surged nearly 50% this year as crisis fears drove speculative short covering in markets that were already facing tightening supplies. Indian markets face headwinds from rising crude oil prices, with $100 oil a significant macroeconomic risk to growth. Higher oil by $10 typically widens current account deficit by about $15 billion every year.

Rupee Vs Dollar

India’s rupee likely to open in the range of 93.55–93.60 against the US dollar. The rupee ended 0.4% weaker at 93.50 against the dollar on Tuesday after RBI decided to relax some curbs it placed on NDF derivatives earlier this year. A spot forex trader told Reuters on condition of anonymity, said rupee may have shed its short-term bullishness after Tuesday’s decline. Brent crude also moving up towards $100 per barrel is unlikely to help the currency recover meaningfully. India’s largest buyers of the dollar — oil marketing companies — will keep their demand for the greenback elevated as long as crude trades around $100 a barrel.

Tuesday’s Closing

On Tuesday, Sensex jumped over 750 points to close at 79,273 and Nifty 50 rallied above 24,550, gaining around 210 points.

Sources:

• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/top-gainers-losers
• www.bseindia.com
• https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-will-indefinitely-extend-ceasefire-unclear-if-iran-agrees-2026-04-
• 22/https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-crude-futures-fall-investors-reassess-us-iran-risks-ahead-ceasefire-deadline-2026-04-
• 20/https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-set-weaken-more-oil-largely-shrugs-off-trump-ceasefire-extension-2026-04-22/