Market Midday, 22 September 2026: Sensex And Nifty Trade In The Red

The Sensex and the Nifty 50 traded in the red on Tuesday, 22 September, after paring their early gains amid selling pressure in IT shares. At 12 PM, the Sensex was down 0.28% at 74,646.73. At the same time, the Nifty 50 was down 0.23% at 23,359.85.

Top Stocks On Nifty Midcap 150 Today

Stocks of the following companies were the top five performers on the Nifty Midcap 150 at around 12 PM:

• JSW Infrastructure Ltd. (5.38%)

• PI Industries Ltd. (3.46%)

• NTPC Green Energy (3.32%)

• Page Industries (3.27%)

• Swiggy (2.95%)

Stock-Specific Action

• Coal India shares gained more than 2% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal-weight", citing an improving earnings outlook.

• IT stocks came under selling pressure, with L&T Technology Services and HCL Technologies among the major laggards in the Nifty IT index, falling up to 4%.

• Oracle Financial Services Software shares rose more than 1% after the company clarified that it was not aware of developments concerning $18 billion of debt linked to a data centre leased by its parent company in New Mexico.

Sectoral Action

Around 12 PM, the Nifty Realty index had gained 0.55%, emerging as the top sectoral gainer. The Energy and Media indices also traded higher, rising 0.06% and 0.4%, respectively.

The Nifty IT index was the biggest sectoral laggard, falling 1.32%. PSU Banks, Banking, FMCG, Pharma and Oil & Gas also traded lower.

The Nifty Midcap 100 had gained 0.06%, while the Smallcap 100 was marginally down 0.1%. India VIX declined 0.64% to 11.18.

Key Factors Behind Market Decline

Investors looking for why the market is down today are closely watching selling pressure in IT stocks, higher crude oil prices, foreign institutional selling and profit booking at higher levels.

IT shares came under pressure after brokerage firms flagged subdued demand and concerns over the medium-term earnings outlook. CLSA said IT companies' management commentary ahead of the September quarter results remained cautious, while higher rates, inflation and geopolitical factors could pose downside risks to earnings.

Brent crude oil prices also rose 0.8% to $101.1 per barrel after declining for four consecutive sessions. Higher crude prices can put pressure on India's import bill and corporate costs, given the country's dependence on crude oil imports.

Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth ₹576.20 crore on Monday. Profit booking at higher levels also weighed on the benchmarks after the Sensex and Nifty 50 gained in the previous session.

These factors also explain why is the stock market down today, with IT selling and higher crude prices adding pressure on the benchmark indices.

Outlook For The Remaining Session

The Nifty 50 needs to sustain above the 23,454 level to maintain its recent recovery and move towards the 23,500–23,600 zone, according to market watchers. On the downside, 23,300 is seen as immediate support, followed by 23,200.

The benchmarks are likely to remain sensitive to movements in IT stocks, crude oil prices and global markets through the rest of the session. Stock-specific action and profit booking could also influence market movements.

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