SENSEX, NIFTY50 end lower after a day's pause; ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance top drags

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, October 14, after a day's pause in the previous session as sentiment turned cautious after crude oil moved above $106 per barrel and wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation accelerated to 11.39% in September from 9.92% in August.

The SENSEX fell as much as 617 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 22,558 after hitting an intraday high of 22,758 dragged down by weakness in heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Eternal and Bharti Airtel.

The SENSEX ended 252 points lower at 72,782 and NIFTY50 index declined 99 points to close at 22,623.

The wholesale price index rose to 112.5 in September from 110.8 in August, the data showed.

Inflation in fuel and power rose to 25.85% in September from 22.93% in August, while inflation in manufactured products increased to 9.76% from 8.37%.

Brent crude futures surged close to $107 per barrel after reports suggested that administrative office of Saudi Aramco was attacked in the eastern city of Dhahran, causing a limited fire, the Energy Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Back home, nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended lower led by the NIFTY Pharma index's 1.3% fall. NIFTY Healthcare, Metal, Financial Services, Bank, Auto, Private Bank and Realty indices also fell between 0.3% and 1.25%.

On the other hand, oil & gas, FMCG, IT and media shares witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets ended lower as NIFTY Midcap index declined 0.08% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.32%.

Transformers and Rectifiers India Limited (TARIL) shares climbed as much as 14% to an intraday high of ₹350 after its net profit in September quarter rose 135% to ₹80 crore ₹34 crore in the same period last year.

The firm’s revenue from operations grew 61% to ₹739 crore in the September quarter, as against ₹460 crore registered in the year-ago period.

The company’s operating profit, also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), jumped to ₹128 crore as compared to ₹52 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Tata Elxsi advanced as much as 7.75% to an intraday high of ₹3,692 after its net profit declined by 0.2% to ₹170 crore at the end of September quarter as against ₹170.6 crore in the previous quarter.

The design and technology services provider’s revenue from operations increased 3.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to ₹1,056 crore in Q2 FY26 in contrast to ₹1,021 crore in the previous quarter of the current financial year. In constant currency (CC) terms, the revenue from operations rose 2.3%.

Shriram Finance was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.85% to close at ₹950. HDFC Life, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI Life, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Finserv, InterGlobe Aviation and ICICI Bank also fell between 1.6% and 2.85%.

On the flip side, Nestle India, Tata Consumer Products, Infosys, TCS, Coal India, Tech Mahindra, Adani Enterprises, NTPC and Reliance Industries were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.