Sensex Today (Oct 12, 2026): Falls 548 Points to 71,925 as IT, FMCG and Banks Drag

Sensex today gave up its early gains and finished well in the red. On Monday, October 12, 2026, the BSE Sensex lost 547.65 points (0.76%) to close at 71,924.68, according to Moneycontrol. The Nifty 50 slid 157.10 points (0.70%) to 22,363.35.

Sensex today: how the day unfolded

• Open: the index started more than 400 points up, then turned around fast (ET Now).
• Intraday low: 71,676.10, a fall of 796.23 points or roughly 1% (ET Now).
• Close: 71,924.68, down 547.65 points.
• Volatility: India VIX rose more than 6% and went past 15 (ET Now).

That wiped out most of Friday’s rally, when the Sensex had added 879.09 points to finish at 72,472.33.

Sensex gainers and losers

CNBC-TV18 picked out the main movers in the Sensex pack:

• Gainers: Hindustan Aeronautics, Cipla, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies
• Laggards: ITC, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, TCS

ET Now added Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and SBI to the list of big Sensex laggards, with Bharat Electronics on the winning side.

Why the Sensex fell

• US bond yields and FII selling: Moneycontrol pointed to high US yields, steady foreign outflows and geopolitical nerves. Our FII DII data report has the flow numbers.
• Sector selling: Nifty IT, Metal, Private Bank, PSU Bank and FMCG lost between 0.4% and 1%, and Nifty FMCG was the weakest at -1.67% (Moneycontrol).
• Banks after RBI measures: Nifty Bank dropped 338.65 points (0.61%) to 54,918. Here’s our piece on the RBI CRR rule change to 99 percent.
• Crude: Brent went up to about $106 a barrel (CNBC-TV18).

Heavyweights weak, broad market steady

Over 150 stocks hit 52-week lows, Avenue Supermarts, HUL, NTPC and Reliance Industries among them, according to Moneycontrol. The broader market told a different story. The Nifty Smallcap index gained 1.4% and the Midcap index closed flat, while media, auto, realty and pharma all ended higher. More on why smallcap stocks rose today.

Stock-specific moves

• Avenue Supermarts lost more than 4% after its Q2 numbers. Our DMart Q2 results post breaks them down.
• ideaForge Technology rose 10% after signing a ₹151 crore loan agreement with the Technology Development Board (Moneycontrol).
• Lenskart Solutions slipped 4% after 2.93 crore shares, or 1.67% of its equity, changed hands in block deals (Moneycontrol).

What it means for investors

Going from a 400-point gain at the open to a 548-point loss by the close tells you how shaky sentiment is right now. Rallies are getting sold into while foreign investors keep selling. After the bell, retail inflation came in at a 23-month high of 5.54%; read about retail inflation in September 2026. That number, along with Q2 results, will set the tone for the next few sessions.

We track the market every day on the Stock Market Today India hub.

Sources: Moneycontrol (Oct 12, 2026, 4:04 PM IST); ET Now; CNBC-TV18.