Falling for the second day, benchmark BSE Sensex closed lower by nearly 188 points on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) following elevated crude oil prices and selling in TCS and other Tata Group shares after N. Chandrasekaran said he will not seek reappointment as Tata Sons Chairman when his current term ends on February 20, 2027.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 187.90 points, or 0.24%, to settle at 77,966.35, with its 21 constituents ending lower, eight with gains and one unchanged. During the day, it tumbled 656.32 points, or 0.83%, to 77,497.93, but recovered some of the losses in the closing session.
Index major TCS dropped by 3.71% after N. Chandrasekaran announced that he will step down as chairman of the group holding company Tata Sons when his current term ends in February 2027. Mr. Chandrasekaran, 63, has spent 40 years with the Tata Group, which includes his stint as TCS CEO from 2009 to 2017.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped by 35.75 points, or 0.15%, to end at 24,435.95.
Among Sensex shares, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Eternal and Infosys were the major losers.
State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Power Grid were among the winners.
“Markets remained on edge ahead of key inflation readings in India and the U.S., with policymakers on both sides underscoring a data-driven approach amid heightened global uncertainty.
“Against this backdrop, elevated crude oil prices, which retested the $90/barrel level, weighed on investor confidence and triggered broad-based risk-off selling despite supportive cues from Asian peers,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said. Brent crude was trading at $88.76 per barrel on Wednesday (August 12, 2026).
Tata Group stocks came under pressure following the Chairman’s exit, contributing to the underperformance of large-cap stocks relative to the broader market, Mr. Nair added.
“Indian equity markets witnessed broad-based selling on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) as a sharp rebound in crude oil prices overshadowed supportive cues from Asia and reinforced concerns over the inflationary impact of higher energy costs.
“With Brent crude edging closer to the $90-per-barrel mark, investors turned increasingly cautious amid persistent uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Iran negotiations and renewed disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, developments that continue to keep the global energy market on edge,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO of HST Wealth, a research analyst firm, said. The BSE MidCap Select index dipped 0.17%, while SmallCap Select index ended almost unchanged.
Among sectoral indices, Hospitals tanked 2.87%, followed by Focused IT (1.55%), IT (1.41%), FMCG (0.82%), Realty (0.71%), Utilities (0.55%) and Services (0.51%). Telecommunication jumped 1.89%, PSU Bank (1.86%), MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt (0.86%), MidSmall Private Banks (0.77%), Capital Goods (0.73%) and Bankex (0.61%).
In Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 3.68%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index also ended higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled lower.
U.S. markets ended lower on Tuesday (August 11, 2026). European markets were trading largely in positive territory.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹258.55 crore on Tuesday (August 11, 2026), according to exchange data.
Published – August 12, 2026 05:48 pm IST
