The Week That Was: September 21–25, 2026
Seven Weeks of Red. Oil, Yields and Geopolitics Still Calling the Shots. And the NSE Finally Got Its Day in the Sun. 📉🛢️
Seven weeks.
That's how long the Nifty 50 and Sensex have now been unable to finish a week in positive territory.
At this point, Indian investors may be wondering whether Friday has become the only day when the market remembers what the colour green looks like. 😄
But there was more to this week than another red weekly candle.
Crude oil remained elevated. Bond yields climbed to uncomfortable levels. Foreign selling continued to weigh on sentiment.
And then, in the middle of all this gloom, India's stock exchange finally became a listed company itself.
The NSE went public.
Ironically, the market where everyone comes to buy and sell shares had to wait more than a decade to sell its own. 😄
Let's unpack the week.
📉 Indian Market: Seven Weeks in the Red
The Nifty 50 closed at 23,140.50 on Friday, while the Sensex finished at 73,895.74.
For the week, the Nifty fell 0.88% and the Sensex declined 0.53%.
That marked the seventh consecutive weekly decline for both indices—the longest such losing streak since 2020.
Friday, however, brought a little relief.
The Nifty gained 0.34%, while the Sensex rose 0.43%.
But one green Friday couldn't rescue the week.
The broader market also remained under pressure. Mid-caps fell about 2.1% and small-caps about 0.9%.
Meanwhile, 11 of the 16 major sectors declined. Financials fell 1.6% and IT stocks lost 2.4%, with both sectors recording their fourth consecutive weekly declines.
So yes, Friday was green.
But it was more of a:
“Okay, let's not make things worse today.”
kind of green. 😄
🛢️ Crude Oil: Still Sitting at the Head of the Table
Once again, crude oil dominated the conversation.
Brent crude hovered around $105.5 a barrel as markets weighed hopes of a possible U.S.-Iran truce against continuing concerns over energy-supply disruptions and attacks in the Middle East.
For India, expensive oil is never merely an oil story.
It can affect:
In other words:
One barrel of crude. Five different headaches. 🛢️😄
The market equation therefore remained uncomfortable:
Expensive oil + higher bond yields + foreign selling = pressure on equities.
📈 The Bond Market Adds More Drama
Oil wasn't the only problem.
The U.S. Treasury market experienced another sharp sell-off during the week.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield touched around 5.22%, its highest level since 2007.
That's a significant number because U.S. Treasury yields influence borrowing costs and asset valuations around the world.
When the supposedly “risk-free” U.S. government bond starts offering increasingly attractive yields, investors naturally begin asking:
“Why take extra equity risk?”
And emerging markets such as India have to deal with that global comparison.
The problem becomes even more complicated when oil is simultaneously pushing inflation expectations higher.
🏦 Seven Weeks Down, But the Global Picture Isn't All Red
Here's where things become interesting.
While Indian equities continued their losing streak, global markets were surprisingly resilient.
Reuters reported that the MSCI World Index was heading for its best weekly performance since early August, helped by renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and hopes that energy supplies from the Middle East could improve.
So the global market was effectively saying:
“Yes, bond yields are scary. But have you seen the AI stocks?” 🤖😄
Investors, apparently, can worry about inflation and still get excited about semiconductors at the same time.
⛏️ Coal India: The Week's Standout
While most of the market was struggling, Coal India managed to shine.
The state-run miner gained 3.95% during the week, making it the top weekly gainer among Nifty 50 stocks.
The stock benefited from expectations around stronger demand and its earnings outlook.
Coal India basically looked at the market's seven-week losing streak and said:
“Not my problem.” 😄
📈 Other Notable Nifty Gainers
The list of stocks that managed to stay positive was relatively short, but there were some bright spots.
Notable weekly performers included:
Coal India was clearly the standout, while ITC and several other stocks managed to post modest gains despite the broader weakness.
This is one of the interesting features of a weak market:
The index can be miserable while individual stocks are quietly having a decent week.
The market may be red.
Your stock doesn't necessarily have to cooperate.
📉 The Weekly Losers
On the other side of the scoreboard, several major Nifty stocks suffered meaningful declines.
The biggest weekly losers included:
Bharti Airtel was the biggest weekly loser among Nifty 50 stocks.
That's quite a list.
If your portfolio held several of those names, Friday's 0.34% Nifty rebound probably wasn't enough to prompt a celebration.
Maybe just tea.
💻 IT Stocks: Still Under Pressure
Technology stocks remained under pressure.
The Nifty IT index fell 2.4%, recording its fourth consecutive weekly decline.
Infosys fell 4.87% during the week and was among the major Nifty laggards.
The pressure reflected concerns around higher U.S. rates, technology-sector valuations and uncertainty surrounding the impact of AI on traditional IT services.
For investors, the message was familiar:
Higher yields don't make expensive growth stocks feel any cheaper.
🏦 Financial Stocks: Another Difficult Week
Financials also remained under pressure, falling 1.6% for the week.
This was the sector's fourth consecutive weekly decline. Reuters noted that concerns around proposed insurance commission caps added to the selling pressure, alongside the broader impact of higher yields and tighter financial conditions.
So even the financial sector—usually one of the Indian market's heavyweight supports—wasn't immune.
When banks and financial stocks start looking nervous, investors tend to pay attention.
Very closely.
🏛️ NSE Finally Gets Listed
And now for one of the week's most historic events.
After a decade-long wait, the National Stock Exchange finally became a listed company.
The ₹22,569-crore NSE IPO had attracted strong demand, receiving about 5.71 times subscription by the end of bidding.
Then came listing day.
On September 24, NSE shares debuted on the BSE at ₹1,800, compared with the IPO issue price of ₹1,785—a modest 0.84% premium. The stock later moved higher during the session.
It was a relatively muted debut considering all the excitement surrounding the IPO.
But the symbolism was enormous.
The institution that operates one of India's biggest equity markets had finally joined the market itself.
The stock exchange became a stock.
That's one way to close a ten-year waiting period. 😄
🌍 A Glimpse of World Markets
While India struggled, global equities showed considerably more resilience.
United States
U.S. stocks remained relatively firm despite the bond-market turmoil.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were heading for weekly gains, supported by renewed enthusiasm for AI and semiconductor stocks, while the Dow was heading for another weekly decline.
The Nasdaq was particularly strong earlier in the week, reaching record territory as technology stocks rallied.
So once again:
Stocks: “AI is exciting!”
Bond market: “5.2%!”
Investors: “Hmm… both?” 🤔
Europe
European markets were also heading towards a weekly gain as oil prices eased and hopes of progress towards a U.S.-Iran truce improved sentiment.
The STOXX 600 was on course for roughly a 1% weekly gain by Friday morning, according to Reuters.
That was a welcome change after three consecutive weekly declines.
Japan
Japan's bond market was another major story.
The 10-year Japanese government bond yield reached 3.115%, its highest level since 1996.
That is significant because Japanese government bond yields have historically been much lower than those seen in many other developed markets.
The global bond market was clearly having a week of its own.
And it wasn't a particularly quiet one.
🧭 The Market Checklist
As we move into the next week, investors will be watching a familiar list:
🛢️ Crude oil — Will prices remain above $100?
📈 Global bond yields — Can the U.S. 10-year yield settle below the 5% threshold?
💵 Foreign flows — Will foreign investors continue selling Indian equities?
🌍 Middle East — Will there be meaningful progress towards a truce?
🏦 Interest rates — Will elevated inflation risks force central banks to remain hawkish?
🤖 Technology and AI — Can global enthusiasm for AI continue to support technology stocks despite higher yields?
And, of course:
🏛️ NSE — How will India's newest listed major financial-market institution perform after its debut?
🧭 The Bottom Line
The Indian market has now endured seven consecutive weekly declines.
And that's not something investors should simply shrug off.
Reuters notes that before this streak, the Nifty had recorded seven or more consecutive weekly losses only four times in the past 25 years—in 2020, 2008 and twice in 2001. Its longest streak was nine weeks in 2001.
So this is unusual.
But unusual doesn't automatically mean catastrophic.
The immediate pressures remain clear:
🛢️ Crude oil
📈 Bond yields
💵 Foreign selling
🌍 Geopolitical tensions
🏦 Interest-rate expectations
Friday's rebound offered some relief.
But it wasn't exactly the market standing up and declaring:
“The storm is over!”
It was more like:
“Okay… perhaps we can stop falling for one day.” 😄
After seven weeks of red, Indian investors may therefore be forgiven for asking:
“Can we please have one week where crude oil, bond yields and geopolitics all behave themselves?”
The market's answer, for now:
“Let's not get carried away.” 😄
The important thing for long-term investors is to separate market volatility from business fundamentals, understand what is driving the decline, and avoid allowing seven weeks of red numbers to dictate seven years of investment decisions.
Because markets can have bad weeks.
Sometimes they can have seven of them.
But a good financial plan should be designed to survive more than one bad season.
The market may be red. Discipline doesn't have to be.
⚠️ Disclaimer: This Blog is for general guidance only and does not replace personalised financial advice.
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