Indian shares closed lower on Wednesday, 28 October, after a volatile session in which heavy selling in technology stocks and Reliance Industries outweighed gains elsewhere in the market. The 30-share Sensex fell 352.64 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 73,246.03, while the 50-share Nifty slipped 50.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 22,698.85. The headline fall, however, understates the day's swings: the Sensex dropped almost 1,000 points intraday to 72,603.57 before recovering much of the loss.

Technology leads the decline

Infosys was the sharpest faller among the leading names, down about 3.4 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, down about 3.1 to 3.5 per cent depending on the data vendor — a small discrepancy between sources, so the range is given here. Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel also finished lower. Sector data pointed the same way, with oil and gas down more than 2 per cent and information technology down about 2 per cent, while auto, consumer durables, media and healthcare stocks rose.

Gains elsewhere cushion the fall

Analysts linked the pressure to a renewed jump in crude oil, with Brent rising to about $114.50 to $116.35 a barrel during the session, according to the two sources, alongside caution before the United States Federal Reserve's policy announcement due later on Wednesday. Higher oil prices matter for India as a large importer, because they feed into fuel costs, inflation expectations and the broader mood around interest rates.

Not everything fell. Larsen & Toubro jumped nearly 4 per cent after reporting a 32.5 per cent rise in quarterly consolidated net profit to Rs 5,202.10 crore for the quarter ended September 2026, helped by higher revenue. Trent, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and InterGlobe Aviation also gained, and 26 of the 50 Nifty stocks ended higher, against 24 lower. Foreign institutional investors had bought equities worth Rs 4,240.39 crore on Tuesday, exchange data showed. The session therefore looks less like a broad sell-off than a rotation away from a handful of heavyweights, with the next test coming from global rate signals and the direction of oil.

Sources: The Sen Times (PTI) and Upstox market wrap.