The Prime Daily: 29 September 2026

AI and memory-chip stocks led the declines in US markets as investors weighed the impact of surging yields and oil prices on the Fed’s rate path. The Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow closed Monday down 0.9%, 0.8%, and 0.7% respectively, snapping last week’s gains.

The high-flying technology sector faced sudden headwinds after OpenAI announced a temporary pause on training its most advanced models until comprehensive security guardrails are successfully established. The regulatory pause prompted a sharp intra-day sell-off across key chipmakers and enterprise software firms, including Arm Holdings and Oracle. In contrast, Nvidia managed to decouple from its sector peers by trading in positive territory on the back of expanding its existing multi-billion-dollar share buyback framework.

Crude is trending higher after Trump rejected Iran’s Strait of Hormuz reopening proposal.  Traffic through the Strait remains below 15% of prewar levels, keeping supply fears elevated and prices well above the pre-conflict level.

A diplomatic standoff between the United States and Iran has driven intense volatility across global markets. These escalating geopolitical risks have renewed investor anxiety regarding broader inflationary pressures. Consequently, market expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike have intensified, pushing the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to multi-decade highs near 5.27%. and reinforcing dollar strength and weighing on risk assets including gold and bitcoin.

The Indian rupee depreciated 17 paise to close at 95.98, its weakest in two months. The currency fell alongside broader Asian peers amid risk-averse sentiment and a surge in crude oil prices after the US rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Nifty resumed its downtrend on Monday, shedding 360 points to close at 22,780, the lowest close since 2 April 2026. The index opened 76 points lower and faced sustained selling pressure throughout the session, erasing over 300 points from the day’s high to finish near the lows. The breakdown reinforces a clear bearish momentum phase, with the index now approaching the next support band of 22,600–22,700. A decisive breach of this zone could extend the decline toward positional support near 22,200. On the upside, resistance has shifted down to the 23,100–23,150 zone, which is likely to cap any near-term rebound.