GIFT Nifty Cues October 15, 2026: Futures Signal Lower Nifty Open After Wall Street Tech Sell-off

The GIFT Nifty cues for October 15 suggest Indian shares will open a little weaker on Thursday. GIFT Nifty futures were at 22,544.50 at 1:44 AM IST, down 0.34%, on the GIFTNiftyToday pre-market tracker. That’s roughly 78 points under the Nifty 50’s Wednesday close of 22,622.70. The damage was done on Wall Street, where a US inflation print hotter than expected dragged tech and chip stocks down.

GIFT Nifty cues October 15: the overnight futures reading

EquityPandit’s GIFT Nifty page showed much the same picture at 1:48 AM IST: 22,545.00, down 77.50 points or 0.34%. The contract opened at 22,737 in the session that started on Wednesday morning and moved between 22,524 and 22,808, so the early gains are gone. The overnight session closes at 2:45 AM IST and trading picks up again at 6:30 AM IST, so the reading nearer 9 AM will tell us more than this late-night number. New to the contract? Our explainer covers how GIFT Nifty works and who can trade it.

Hot US inflation hits tech on Wall Street

US consumer prices climbed 0.6% in September, pushing annual CPI inflation up to 3.7% from 3.4% in August, CNBC reported. Economists were looking for 3.6%. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, was up 2.6% on the year against expectations of 2.5%. Gasoline alone jumped 9.1% in the month and accounted for about half the headline rise. After the data, CME FedWatch put the odds of a rate hike at the Fed’s October 27-28 meeting at about 54%.

Banks slipped too after their quarterly numbers, Reuters said, with Bank of America lower after setting aside $1.2 billion for regulatory fines. The GIFTNiftyToday tracker’s US table shows the S&P 500 closing 1.11% down at 7,718.94 and the Nasdaq Composite 1.88% down at 26,692.87. The Dow held up far better, slipping just 0.09% to 51,621.48. Chip stocks fell harder: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 3.1% on Wednesday, Lumida News reported, citing Bloomberg. At the tracker’s 1:44 AM reading, S&P 500 futures were off 1.14% and Nasdaq 100 futures off 2.05%, while the US 10-year Treasury yield stood at 5.198%.

Crude, the rupee and Asian markets

Brent crude stood at $105.98 a barrel on the tracker, up 0.27%. It had been at $106.37 during Indian afternoon trade on Wednesday, PTI reported. The rupee gained 19 paise to a provisional close of 95.17 to the dollar. That’s a fourth straight gain and 171 paise over four sessions, helped along by the RBI’s October 10 measures to curb speculation. In the latest Asian session, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.88%, the KOSPI 0.44%, the Hang Seng 0.13% and the Nikkei 225 0.05%.

How Dalal Street closed on Wednesday

The Nifty 50 lost 99.25 points, or 0.44%, on Wednesday to end at 22,622.70, and the Sensex fell 251.89 points, or 0.34%, to 72,781.89, according to BusinessLine. IT stocks gained while pharma was the weakest pocket (more in our October 14 closing report). Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of ₹1,857.44 crore of shares, while domestic institutions bought a net ₹2,670.44 crore, CNBC-TV18 reported (see our FII DII data for October 14). Separately, PTI reported that India’s wholesale inflation rose to 11.39% in September from 9.92% in August.

What to watch at the Nifty open

A GIFT Nifty discount of around 0.34% points to a mildly lower Nifty open. Bear in mind that GIFT Nifty is a futures contract, so its price carries a premium or discount to the spot index and can shift before 9:15 AM. IT is the real test. Nifty IT has gained for two sessions, and the Nasdaq has just sold off. Wipro reports its September-quarter results after market hours on Thursday, and Nestle India, Tech Mahindra, Jio Financial Services and HDFC Life are also on Upstox’s results list for October 15. The other risks are crude near $106 and more foreign selling. A firmer rupee is the main cushion. For live levels through the day, follow our Stock Market Today India hub.