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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2026

 

By Arundathi A R

 

MUMBAI – Bears overruled the bulls in the domestic equity market Wednesday and the headline indices closed almost 1% lower. The sharp fall in most information technology stocks resulted in the indices snapping a three-day rally. Heightened concern about the US-Iran peace talks and a rise in Brent crude oil prices back to the $100 per-barrel level weighed on sentiment despite President Donald Trump's announcement extending the two-week ceasefire in West Asia indefinitely.

 

The Nifty 50 closed 0.8% lower at 24378.10 points. The BSE Sensex ended 1% lower at 78516.49 points. At 1536 IST, the June futures contract of Brent Crude was trading nearly 2% higher at $100.09 a barrel. The nervousness among investors rose considerably and the India Volatility Index ended nearly 4% higher at 18.3000.

 

The announcement of the ceasefire extension came after reports that US Vice-President J.D. Vance's visit to Pakistan for the second round of peace talks with Iranian officials had been put on hold. The extension of the ceasefire with Iran was announced purportedly to allow Tehran more time to come up with a proposal to end the war. "I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other," Trump posted on social media.

 

The broader market indices outperformed the benchmarks, with all the Nifty smallcap indices settling over 1% higher. Barring the Nifty Midcap 50, all midcap indices closed 0.2% higher. The sectoral indices also fared well, with only six ending in the red. The Nifty IT was the biggest laggard among them, down almost 4%. All its constituents with the exception of Oracle Financial Services Software ended lower.

 

HCL Technologies was the worst performing Nifty 50 stock through the session and ended nearly 11% down. For the March quarter, the IT major had Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of INR 44.88 billion, lower than analysts' projection of INR 47.23 billion. The profit grew 10% on quarter and 4.2% on year. The company's consolidated revenue for the quarter was INR 339.81 billion, below the Street's expectation of INR 344.24 billion. The revenue was almost flat on quarter but grew 12.4% on year.

 

Infosys was second in the list of big Nifty 50 losers, ending over 3% lower. Tata Consultancy Services and Tech Mahindra also closed nearly 3% lower each.

 

Shares of SBI Life Insurance Co. ended over 1% lower ahead of its March quarter results. The life insurance company's net profit for the quarter was seen at INR 7.9 billion by Motilal Oswal Financial Services and INR 8.46 billion by SMIFS Ltd.

 

Central Mine Planning & Design Institute ended over 3% lower after posting a year-on-year decline in net profit and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the March quarter. The company's net profit for the quarter fell 32% on year to INR 1.88 billion. Its EBITDA fell 28% on year to INR 2.39 billion. The company posted a 12% year-on-year rise in revenue to INR 8.27 billion.

 

Fast-moving consumer goods stocks were the best performers in the Nifty 50. Tata Consumer Products was the top gainer in the index, ending over 3% higher. The stock ended up for the sixth session in a row. Hindustan Unilever was the second-best performer, rising over 2%. Shares of Nestle India ended over 1% higher after the company reported a strong set of earnings for the March quarter.

 

Oracle Financial ended over 2% higher ahead of its March quarter earnings, due later in the day. The company is expected to report a consolidated net profit of INR 7.01 billion, up over 6% on quarter and around 9% on year, according to Dolat Capital Market. Shares of Trent ended 1% higher ahead of its March quarter earnings.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 20 rose and 30 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 11 rose and 19 fell

* On the NSE, 1,923 stocks rose, 1,357 fell, and 116 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,442 stocks rose, 1,834 fell, and 146 were unchanged
* Nifty IT: down 3.9%; Nifty Financial Services: down 0.8%; Nifty Energy: up 1.4%

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BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 78516.49, down 756.84 points or 1%        Nifty 50: 24378.10, down 198.50 points or 0.8%

 

S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 71947.55 (Mar. 30)	: 2026 Closing Low: 22331.40 (Mar. 30)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 71545.81 (Apr. 1)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 22182.55 (Apr.2)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

 

End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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