Nifty slips as IT and financial heavyweights outweigh gains in energy and industrials

Indian equities opened with support from softer crude and positive global cues, but the early gains did not hold. Traders attributed the reversal to selling in information technology, banking and other heavyweight stocks, snapping a four-session advance.

IT was the clearest index drag: HCL Technologies, TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra all declined, with HCL Technologies the weakest among the named large IT stocks. Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance also weighed on financials. By contrast, Coal India, Eternal, IndiGo, Titan and Tata Steel were among the stocks that supported the market.

The sector pattern suggests that the session was driven more by rotation and heavyweight selling than by a broad deterioration in risk appetite. Consumer durables benefited from gains in Titan, while energy and industrial shares found support from softer crude and company-specific order news. The available material does not identify a separate stock-specific catalyst for the weakness in telecom and internet or in NBFC and insurance beyond pressure in financial names.

Foreign institutional investors were reported as net sellers of Rs 3,809.99 crore in Indian equities on September 22, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 4,120.07 crore, according to NSE data cited in market reports. The opposing flows helped limit the market's decline but did not prevent selling in index heavyweights.

The divergence between domestic support and foreign selling remains important for the session ahead. It indicates that the market had an internal liquidity cushion, while overseas flows continued to act as a source of pressure. This is an explanation of the flow pattern, not a prediction of its market effect.

Overnight cues were mixed but broadly supportive for technology and Asian equities. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.45%, while the S&P 500 was nearly unchanged and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.36%. Asian equities were higher after semiconductor stocks lifted US technology shares; Japan was closed for a holiday.

Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel amid reports of renewed US-Iran diplomatic efforts. The decline can support India's external balance and reduce input-cost pressure for fuel-consuming businesses, although the rupee and domestic bond-market response also depend on the dollar and global yields.

The dollar edged higher and the US 10-year Treasury yield was near 4.96% in overnight market reports. For Indian equities, the combination presents two competing signals: softer oil is helpful for import costs, while elevated US yields can keep foreign capital selective. The rupee's stronger close on September 22 was attributed by traders to lower oil prices and dollar sales by the RBI.

The Reserve Bank of India issued amendment directions covering the classification, valuation and operation of investment portfolios of all-India financial institutions. The changes alter valuation norms for InvIT and REIT units held by these institutions. The immediate market impact was not specified in the available material, but the change is relevant to infrastructure and real-estate investment vehicles because it affects how such holdings are valued by regulated financial institutions.

The RBI has also been draining surplus liquidity through bond sales and foreign-exchange swaps. Reuters reported that the banking-system liquidity surplus had fallen to Rs 4.92 trillion on Monday from a record Rs 11.16 trillion about two weeks earlier. The RBI had sold Rs 75,000 crore of bonds over the preceding week and planned another Rs 25,000 crore operation, while banks had parked Rs 3.4 trillion with the central bank through reverse repos.

The main macro release identified was August core-sector output. The eight infrastructure industries grew 4.8% year-on-year, slower than 6.2% in August 2025 and down from a revised 5.0% in July. Cement and electricity were stronger, while coal, crude oil, natural gas and fertiliser output contracted. No fresh CPI, IIP, GST, trade or PMI release for September 23 was identified in the available material.

Engineers India said it had secured a contract worth more than $450 million, reported in Indian market coverage as about Rs 4,300 crore, from Dangote Group. The company will provide project-management consultancy and engineering, procurement and construction-management consultancy services for a greenfield refinery and petrochemical plant in Kenya. The order gives the industrial sector a company-specific reason for strength and adds to Engineers India's reported FY26 order book of Rs 15,109 crore.

Pace Digitek's material subsidiary, Lineage Power, secured a Rs 488.4 crore order including GST from NTPC GE Power Services for a battery energy storage system project at Barh STPP. The order is relevant to the industrial and energy-storage theme, although the available material does not provide an earnings estimate or delivery timetable.

Results from smaller companies were mixed. Symbiotec Pharmalab reported first-quarter FY27 revenue of Rs 218 crore, up 7.4% year-on-year, but EBITDA fell 23% to Rs 45 crore and profit after tax declined 53% to Rs 14 crore. Lumino Industries reported first-quarter FY27 revenue of Rs 521 crore, up 19.2% year-on-year, EBITDA of Rs 70.4 crore, up 34%, and profit after tax of Rs 40 crore, up 33%. Augmont Enterprises reported revenue of Rs 18,946 crore, up 30.2% year-on-year, but EBITDA fell 47% to Rs 53.5 crore and profit after tax declined 15% to Rs 61 crore.

No analyst consensus or company guidance comparison was available for these reported results. Accordingly, the year-on-year comparison is the relevant basis, rather than a reported beat or miss.

Primary-market activity remains heavy. Four mainboard issues—Elevate Campuses, ArMee Infotech, Swastika Infra and Adroit Industries—are scheduled to open on September 23 and close on September 25. Reported issue sizes are Rs 2,100 crore, Rs 300 crore, Rs 160.88 crore and Rs 150.71 crore, respectively. The available reports give different combined totals, so the individual issue sizes are the more reliable basis here.

Elevate Campuses raised Rs 945 crore from anchor investors at Rs 362 a share, the top end of its price band, before the public issue. Swastika Infra raised Rs 48.26 crore from six anchor investors. The NSE IPO was reported to have closed with 5.57 times subscription and is expected to list on the BSE on September 24.

Pine Labs was the main reported block-deal event. Mastercard Asia sold 4.97 crore shares, or 4.31% of the company, while several institutional buyers were named in market reports. The reported average transaction price was Rs 187.75 a share.