NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on September 16

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Wednesday, September 16, as indicated by NIFTY futures traded at Gift City in Gandhinagar. GIFT NIFTY futures declined 9 points to 23,215 amid weak cues from global markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Tuesday as investor sentiment took a knock tracking a surge in US bond yields and rising crude prices in global markets.

The SENSEX dropped 778 points to close at the day's lowest level of 74,004 and NIFTY50 index fell 280 points to close at an intraday low of 23,119 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Bharat Electronics, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading lower on expectations of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and rising crude oil in global markets. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.32% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.07%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday as investor sentiment turned cautious on surging bond yields and rising crude prices.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.63%, S&P 500 index tumbled 0.45% and tech heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.8%.

Higher yields mean everyone from the US government to households to businesses must pay more in interest to borrow money, which slows the overall economy.

Crude oil update

Brent crude futures declined marginally but stayed above $107 per barrel as investors assessed supply risks after Saudi Arabia suspended oil loadings at its Yanbu port following an attack on its East-West pipeline ‌to the Red Sea.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹2,977.86 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,686.05 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹14,116 crore taking the total quantum of selling to ₹2,38,557 crore for 2026, data from NSDL showed.

Stocks to watch

Pratt & Whitney is a business of US-based RTX.

The collaboration supports India’s indigenous unmanned aerial systems efforts under the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

The company, in a regulatory filing, said that it received NHAI's letter on September 11, 2026, saying Awadh Expressway Private Limited will not be able to participate in any bid of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)/NHAI and their executing agencies for a period of three years.

"NHAI vide its letter dated 11.9.2026 extended debarment of the concessionaire to the company, being its promoter," PNC Infratech said in the filing.

The move ends the zero-MDR regime that has been in place since January 2020, introduced to drive digital payments adoption but long criticised by banks and fintechs as unsustainable.

Essential sectors like railways, telecom and fuel get a flat ₹5 fee per transaction, while capital markets get a lighter 0.02% rate.

The order will be executed by December 2027, the company stated in an exchange filing.