CAS chaos continues: Sensex indicative price tumbles nearly 1,000 points in seconds, closes in red but Nifty ends above 23,300

iStock Synopsis Indian stock markets showed divergence as Sensex closed lower and Nifty ended higher.

Sharp swings occurred during the closing auction session, impacting both indices significantly.

Broader markets, including smallcap and midcap indices, significantly outperformed the benchmarks.

Several large-cap stocks experienced declines, while others saw substantial gains.

Investor sentiment improved due to easing crude prices and global yields, despite ongoing uncertainties.

By Debaroti Adhikary, ETMarkets.com XPeers Power Grid Corporation of India Share Price Adani Energy Solutions Share Price Last Updated: Sep 18, 2026, 04:02:00 PM IST Follow us The Indian stock market saw divergence in its benchmark indices for the second consecutive session, with Sensex closing in the red and Nifty in the green following sharp swings during the closing auction session (CAS).ADVERTISEMENT Sensex and Nifty both traded in the green before the CAS began at 3.20 pm.

The indicative prices of both the benchmark indices sharply tumbled, with Sensex plunging nearly 1,000 points within a few seconds, before making a sharp recovery.

While Nifty managed to recover all losses during the CAS, Sensex ended with marginal losses in the red despite a sharp rebound.Overall, Sensex lost around 20 points or 0.03% to close at 74,295 while Nifty 50 gained 76 points or 0.33% to end the session at 23,346 on Friday.

Broader markets sharply outperformed, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices rising up to 1.7%.

TCS, Titan Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and NTPC shares fell around 2-4% to lead losses on Sensex, while UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank shares fell over 1% each.

Meanwhile, Adani Ports, Power Grid, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel shares jumped 2-4%.

Among the sectors, Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal gained more than 1% each, while Nifty IT fell over 1%.

The overall market breadth remained positive, with NSE seeing 2,388 advances and 1,154 declines, while 111 stocks remained unchanged.What lies ahead for Dalal Street?

Indian equities extended their recovery as moderation in crude and global yields improved risk appetite, despite concerns around the continued geopolitical uncertainty.

Investor sentiment was further supported by positive global cues following largely anticipated policy actions from major central banks, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.The rebound was broad-based across sectors, although IT stocks declined amid profit booking, as concerns lingered that prolonged higher-interest-rate could weigh on global tech spending, he added.

While the recent moderation in oil prices and yields has provided near-term relief, the sustainability of the market recovery will depend on further easing of global macro risks and a meaningful revival in foreign investor inflows, the analyst further said.