opened lower on Thursday, October 8, 2026, as markets absorbed the and weak global cues, even as IT heavyweights led by TCS climbed ahead of quarterly results due later in the day.
The , which had closed at 72,638.70 on Wednesday, opened at 72,668.00 and was trading at 72,459.48, down 179.22 points or 0.25 per cent, as of 9.19 am. The , which had ended the previous session at 22,603.05, opened at 22,599.05 and slipped to 22,541.70, shedding 61.35 points or 0.27 per cent.
The market opened after the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent on Wednesday — its first hike since February 2023 — and shifted its stance from ‘neutral’ to ‘calibrated tightening’.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said the move has direct market implications: …”With two more rate hikes of 25bp each likely in this rate hiking cycle, there will be pressure on valuations rising from higher fixed income returns.”…
to close at 96.78 against the dollar, its second-weakest close on record, hurt by the hawkish policy stance and rising crude prices.
On the global front, Wall Street retreated overnight — the Dow Jones fell 0.66 per cent, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shed 0.22 per cent. The US 10-year Treasury yield touched 5.37 per cent in intraday trade before settling near 5.28 per cent, its highest in decades.
hovered above $101 per barrel on supply concerns stemming from tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, noted that …”persistent anxiety regarding attacks on supply lines in the Strait of Hormuz continues to bolster prices, creating a structural undercurrent of inflation worries that is complicating the Federal Reserve’s monetary trajectory.”…
On the sectoral front, IT stocks were the standout performers. TCS surged 2.56 per cent, opening at ₹2,104.00 and trading at ₹2,133.60, ahead of its Q2 FY27 earnings announcement.
Tech Mahindra rose 1.72 per cent to ₹1,516.70, HCL Technologies gained 1.58 per cent to ₹1,203.70, and Infosys was up 1.39 per cent to ₹1,005.80. Nestlé India added 0.68 per cent to ₹1,333.00, bucking the broader weakness in consumer stocks.
Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, said …”TCS’s commentary on discretionary spending, deal conversions and margins is likely to carry greater weight than the headline numbers in determining whether the IT sector can provide support to the broader indices.”…
Financial and infrastructure stocks were the drag. SBI Life Insurance was the top loser, falling 2.16 per cent to ₹1,688.80. Bajaj Finance dropped 1.59 per cent to ₹948.55, while Bajaj Finserv lost 1.57 per cent to ₹1,715.90.
Adani Enterprises fell 1.09 per cent to ₹2,713.00, and IndiGo shed 1.08 per cent to ₹4,936.20. The Metal index had already borne the brunt of Wednesday’s weakness, losing over 2.35 per cent, even as the PSU Bank index managed to gain nearly 1 per cent.
On the institutional side, foreign institutional investors remained heavy sellers on Wednesday, offloading equities worth over ₹6,121 crore.
Domestic institutional investors partially offset this with net purchases of around ₹4,596 crore. Vijayakumar flagged the structural concern: …”With the US 10-year bond yield hovering above 5.3 per cent, FIIs will continue to sell on every rally. This will put the Nifty large-caps under pressure for some more time.”…
Technically, analysts have identified 22,700 on the Nifty and 73,000 on the Sensex as key resistance zones. A break below 22,500 could pull the indices toward the 22,300–22,200 band, while a move above 22,800 would be needed to signal any meaningful recovery.
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, summed up the near-term mood: …”Unless FII flows show signs of stabilizing or U.S. yields retreat, domestic equities are likely to remain vulnerable to further selling pressure, particularly if expectations of additional RBI tightening build.”…