Sensex & Nifty Close Flat as Crude Oil Plunges | Market Close 28 July 2026

Today, 28 July 2026: Sensex closed at 76,765.92, down 69.88 points (0.09%), while Nifty 50 settled at 23,985.35, down 10.60 points (0.04%). Nifty Bank fell 0.58% to 56,755.60. IT stocks led the gainers as TCS jumped 4.46%; FMCG and energy stocks dragged with Hindustan Unilever falling 6.99%. For SIP investors, days like these reinforce why staying invested through flat sessions matters more than chasing volatile swings.

What happened in the markets today

On Tuesday, 28 July 2026, the Sensex today closed at 76,765.92, down 69.88 points or 0.09%, while the Nifty 50 settled at 23,985.35, down 10.60 points or 0.04%. The Nifty Bank declined more sharply, closing at 56,755.60 with a 0.58% loss. Crude oil (WTI) plunged 5.07% to $78.42 per barrel — the steepest single-day drop in recent weeks — while gold slipped 0.97% to ₹4,037 per 10g. The rupee strengthened marginally, with USD/INR at 95.84.

Why did Sensex fall today? A sharp selloff in banking and FMCG stocks offset gains in IT, keeping the indices largely flat for the session.

Movers: IT stocks gain, FMCG and banking drag Nifty 50

Today’s Nifty 50 gainers were TCS, Eternal, and Tech Mahindra.

Today’s Nifty 50 losers were Hindustan Unilever, Coal India, and NTPC.

TCS share price today closed at ₹2,398.00, up 4.46%, leading the IT rally. Hindustan Unilever share price today fell 6.99% to ₹2,022.70, the biggest single-day drop among Nifty 50 constituents. IT and pharma stocks dominated the gainers list, while FMCG and energy stocks dragged the index lower.

In the news

• L&T — Q1 FY27 net profit rose 14% year-on-year to ₹4,123 crore; revenue up 7% to ₹67,942 crore. The board approved merging subsidiary L&T Power Development with the company and signed a ₹15,000-crore offshore wind framework agreement with TenneT. [Source: ET]
• Cipla — Received US FDA approval for its generic version of Advair Diskus, a widely prescribed asthma and COPD treatment. The US market for this product is approximately $908 million. [Source: PRNewswire]
• Tata Motors — Operations at its Sanand plants in Gujarat were severely disrupted by flooding caused by heavy rainfall. The company expects normal operations to resume within days. [Source: BusinessToday]
• Bank of Baroda — Confirmed a cybersecurity breach involving an employee email account. The bank said core banking systems remain secure and the incident’s financial impact is expected to be limited. [Source: Indian Express]
• Ambuja Cements — Q1 net profit fell 34% year-on-year to ₹577 crore, pressured by weaker cement realisations and higher input costs.
• Tata Capital — Q1 net profit surged 56% year-on-year to ₹1,547 crore, driven by strong loan book growth across retail and corporate segments.
• Cholamandalam Investment — Q1 profit jumped 46% to ₹1,656 crore. The board approved raising up to ₹55,000 crore through secured and unsecured NCDs on a private-placement basis.

India’s industrial output rose 7.3% in June — the fastest pace in 23 months — driven by 7.8% manufacturing growth and 10.6% expansion in electricity and gas supply. Public sector banks reported a record net profit of ₹1.98 lakh crore in FY25-26, with gross NPAs at a historic low of 1.9%.

Term of the day — Floor price

A floor price is the minimum acceptable bid in an auction or book-built offering. In an IPO, it represents the lowest price a company is willing to accept for its shares during the book-building process. Bids below this threshold are not valid. The concept extends beyond equities — any asset sold through auction, from real estate to government securities, can have a floor price set by the seller.

For SIP investors, understanding floor prices matters because it helps you gauge whether an IPO is priced aggressively or conservatively relative to market demand. When market sentiment is weak, floor prices sometimes get revised downward, creating potential entry points for long-term investors.

What it means for SIP investors

Days when the Sensex barely moves but individual stocks swing 4–7% in either direction are a reminder that index-level calm can mask significant rotation beneath the surface. If your SIP portfolio is spread across large-cap, mid-cap, and flexi-cap funds, a single sector’s weakness — like FMCG’s 7% drop today — won’t derail your long-term trajectory. The key is consistency: continue SIP during crashes and let compounding do the heavy lifting. Crude oil’s 5% plunge today could ease input costs for Indian companies over time, which is a tailwind worth watching. For a deeper look at building a balanced portfolio that weathers days like these, see how to build a mutual fund portfolio from scratch. And if you have been delaying starting a SIP, days of flat closes are actually the best time to begin — here’s why: cost of delay in starting SIP.

Returns snapshot — 1-day & long-term

1-Day Returns:

Long-Term Returns (20-Year CAGR):

Sensex today, 28 July 2026 closed at 76,765 — a flat session that barely registers on the long-term chart, yet offers a useful reminder that daily noise is noise, not signal.