Indian equities shrugged off a violent chip-stock rout across Asia to close marginally higher, as a ~3.8% surge in the Nifty IT index — powered by Coforge's blowout results — offset a soft, breadth-negative broader market on July's monthly F&O expiry.

How India closed

The Nifty 50 held above 24,000, settling near 24,019 (+0.1%), while the Sensex ended around 76,929 (+0.1%), per exchange data reported by Goodreturns. The move was narrow and defensive: Nifty IT jumped to roughly 30,565, but the Nifty Midcap 100 was near-flat and the Smallcap 100 slipped ~0.3%, with decliners outnumbering advancers on the NSE. Nifty Bank ended a touch lower.

Why it moved — and what it signals

The single driver was a rotation into Indian IT services as global AI and semiconductor names were dumped. Coforge soared ~9% on 33% YoY dollar revenue growth, a $2.23bn next-12-month order book and 86% of revenue from AI-led engineering, data and cloud; TCS rose ~5% and Infosys, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra added 3%+. Investors treated software services as insulated from the chip-capex fears hammering Asia — a read that may be tested by US mega-cap tech earnings this week.

Sectors & stocks

• Leaders: IT by a wide margin; FMCG, pharma and realty also drew buyers. Lodha Developers hit an 11-month high; L&T won a TenneT 2 GW offshore-wind deal in Europe.
• Laggards: Nifty PSU Bank (~−0.8%) led decliners; Metal, Auto and Oil & Gas softened. Bharat Electronics fell ~3.6% on a Q1 margin miss and Tata Chemicals ~3% after a sharp profit drop. Coal India, NTPC, Power Grid, SBI, Reliance and HDFC Bank were among Nifty losers. HUL's Q1 profit fell even as revenue rose.

Flows, currency & commodities

Provisional FII/DII figures for today were awaited at publication; in the prior session (Jul 27), FIIs net sold ₹1,688 cr while DIIs net bought ₹2,329 cr (Trendlyne/Business Standard). The rupee traded near ₹95.8/$. Brent crude slid ~1.5% toward $85 (WTI ~$84) on reported progress in US–Iran talks — a tailwind for import-heavy India. Domestic 22k gold was quoted around ₹13,215/gm.

Global now

Asia was the story: South Korea's KOSPI crashed ~10.8% — triggering a market-wide circuit breaker — as Samsung (~−14%) and SK Hynix (~−15%) were gutted by fears of Chinese chip-tool competition and Nvidia AI-financing worries. Japan's Nikkei fell ~3.9% and Shanghai ~1.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng eked out +0.1%. Europe opened firmer (DAX +0.5%, FTSE/CAC +0.4%, Stoxx 600 +0.3%) and US futures were mixed-to-firm (Dow futures ~+0.2%) — the selloff had not yet spread West.

Data & events on the radar

No major India macro print landed today; focus stays on Q1 earnings (L&T, HUL, Varun Beverages, Tata Capital, Bajaj Finance). Globally, the US Fed's two-day FOMC meeting (Jul 28–29) dominates — the decision lands ~11:30 PM IST Wednesday, with rates widely expected held at 3.5–3.75% and Chair Warsh's tone the key. US Q2 advance GDP and June PCE print around the meeting; Conference Board consumer confidence and JOLTS are due tonight, alongside Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple earnings this week.

Sentiment & what to watch

Read: cautiously risk-on in India, risk-off in Asia's chip complex — a defensive, IT-led bounce rather than a broad rally. Watch whether the semiconductor rout stays contained overnight or bleeds into US tech earnings and Wall Street. The Fed decision and Chair Warsh's guidance tomorrow night are the next big swing factor for IT (a US-demand proxy), the rupee and rate-sensitive banks. If crude keeps easing on US–Iran talks, that remains a quiet positive for India.

As of 4:05 PM IST, Jul 28, 2026. Sources: Business Standard, Upstox, Goodreturns, US News/AP, CNBC. Automated market wrap for discussion and education only — not investment advice. Verify before acting.