Stock Market Alert: Why Jio's Bumper Listing Fails To Revive Sensex, Nifty 50? How Fed Rates Will Impact?

The Indian stock market could not gain traction on October 28, 2026, despite the bumper listing of Jio Platforms. In fact, the market sentiment is broadly driven by investors' cautiousness for the upcoming US Federal Reserve's policy outcomes. In the early trade, the Sensex crashed as much as 995 points, and Nifty dropped at least 252 points before recovering some losses. If a surprise rate hike is in the picture, the Fed policy could lead for further bearish trend.

Sensex, Nifty Crashes Today:

At the time of writing, Sensex traded at 73,302.73, down by 296.67 points or 0.40%, while Nifty 50 performed at 22,559.95 which is lower by 75.50 points or 0.3%.

In the early trade, both benchmarks had crashed by more than 1% each. Sensex erased up to 995 points to hit an intraday low of 72,603.57 and Nifty 50 plunged up to 252 points to hit an intraday low of 22,497.70. Reliance Industries dropped by 2% to drag the market despite its telecom giant Jio's listing.

On BSE and NSE, Jio Platforms IPO listed at Rs 1,358 apiece on BSE, which is a premium of 21.36% compared to IPO issue price of Rs 1,119 per share. The company's market cap stood at Rs 1,250,586.39 crore.

At present, buying trends in L&T which rallied by 4% followed by 1.5% upside in Trent, 1.4% surge in Indigo, and 1% rally in SBI helped Sensex recover some losses. M&M, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank are also up nearly 1% each.

However, market struggles due to heavy losses in Infosys which plunged 4% followed by TCS and Reliance Industries that crashed by 2.2% and 2.13%. IT stocks like Tech Mahindra and Tech Mahindra also tanked by 2% each, while Bharti Airtel slipped by 1.5% after Jio's listing. ITC was also down by 1.5%.

Nifty IT took the worst hit by 2.3% crash followed by Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty FMCG indexes that plummeted by 2% and 1% respectively.

"Indian equities are likely to remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision, with investors also tracking movements in global markets and energy prices. WTI crude continues to trade around $100-101 a barrel, keeping concerns over sustained cost pressures and the broader economic outlook in focus," said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.

In the emerging market, Asian markets offered a positive lead in early trading, buoyed by renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced more than 1%, while South Korea's KOSPI climbed over 3%, signalling improved risk appetite across the region.

However, Ponmudi said investor sentiment is likely to remain guarded ahead of the Fed's announcement, as its assessment of the economic and inflation outlook could influence US Treasury yields and the dollar, with implications for global risk appetite and capital flows into emerging markets.

How Fed Rates Will Impact?

In the September 2026 policy, Fed chair Kevin Warsh hiked federal fund rates by 25 basis points for the first time in 3 years to 3.75% to 4%. The reason was the elevated inflation which continues to linger due to Iran conflict that has sparked energy crisis. All 19 policymakers of Fed voted for a hike.

Since the last policy meeting, US CPI inflation has surged to 3.7% in September 2026, while annual core inflation rates climbed to 2.6%. This is very high from Fed's consumer price index target of 2%. Also, the 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 5.36% in early October, its highest intraday level since 2002, though it has since moderated to around 5%.

Despite the above, Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged. UBS in its note said, "Strong US economic data and higher energy costs pushed Treasury yields to multi-decade highs and raised concerns about an extended tightening cycle from the Federal Reserve."

Accordingly, UBS expects rate hikes by 25 basis points in December 2026 and March 2027 and believe resilient economic growth and robust corporate earnings should help US equities withstand moderate policy tightening. Higher starting yields are also creating opportunities to add portfolio income.

As per Ponmudi, the near-term direction of Indian equities is likely to hinge on the Fed's policy signals, movements in crude oil prices and foreign portfolio investor flows. The rupee's performance will also remain an important variable, particularly if elevated oil prices intensify pressure on India's external balances. With investors likely to reassess positions ahead of the policy announcement, volatility may persist as global cues shape sentiment through the session.

On the other hand, Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments believes that for the Indian market to revive there are two important conditions now.

One, crude prices have to decline. There is no clarity on that. Two, FPIs have to stop their relentless selling and turn buyers. For this to happen changes in the LTCGs tax appears inevitable now. There is a high probability of this happening since the massive FPI outflows - $19 billion in 2025 and $31 billion so far this year- have started hurting India's otherwise good macros."

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