Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains and closed marginally lower on Monday, with both the Nifty and Sensex extending their losses for the seventh consecutive day as traders remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Markets made a positive start, supported by value buying at lower levels, and also took encouragement from a private report stating that India is set to formally operationalize its trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc on October 1. However, markets wiped out their gains and swung between red and green, amid concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies on the pharmaceutical sector and their potential impact on India.

Some of the important factors in trade:

US tariffs pose major risk to India's growth: Traders remains cautious as Crisil Intelligence in its September report stated that high tariffs imposed by the United States (US) on Indian goods pose a major risk to the country's growth.

India’s Forex reserves drop by $396 million to $702.57 billion: Market participants remained cautious as RBI data showed that India's forex reserves dropped by $396 million to $702.57 billion for the week ended September 19.

Recent GST rate cuts to help lower inflation by next year: Traders overlooked the Finance Ministry said that recent GST rate cuts will help lower inflation over the next year and also bring a further upside bias to the country's growth prospects. 

Global front: European markets were trading in green, as in-line U.S. inflation data reinforced hopes of interest rate cut by Federal Reserve.  Asian markets ended mostly in green as rebound in Chinese industrial profits suggested the world's second-largest economy is stabilizing amid robust policy measures.

The BSE Sensex ended at 80364.94, down by 61.52 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 80248.84 and 80851.38. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.34%, while Small cap index down by 0.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.96%, PSU up by 1.18%, Energy up by 1.10%, Realty up by 0.97% and Power up by 0.46%, while TECK down by 0.33%, Industrials down by 0.32%, IT down by 0.25%, Auto down by 0.12%, and Telecom down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.30%, SBI up by 1.58%, Eternal up by 1.18%, Trent up by 1.08% and Bharat Electronics up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.65%, Axis Bank down by 1.63%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.17%, ICICI Bank down by 1.01% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Government of India is planning to borrow Rs 6.77 lakh crore in the second half of the fiscal year 2025-26 (H2: FY 2025-26) through dated securities, including Rs 10,000 crore through issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs).

The Gross Market Borrowing of Rs 6.77 lakh crore shall be completed through 22 weekly auctions till March 6, 2026. The market borrowing will be spread over 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 30, 40 and 50 year securities. The share of borrowing (including SGrBs) under different maturities will be: 3-year (6.6%), 5-year (13.3%), 7-year (8.1%), 10-year (28.4%), 15-year (14.2%), 30-year (9.2%), 40-year (11.1%) and 50-year (9.2%).

Besides, the Government will continue to carry out switching/buyback of securities to smoothen the redemption profile. The Government will continue to reserve the right to exercise greenshoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to Rs 2,000 crore against each of the securities indicated in the auction notifications.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24634.90, down by 19.80 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 24606.20 and 24791.30. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 2.63%, Titan Company up by 2.22%, Wipro up by 1.65%, SBI up by 1.61% and Hindalco up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.85%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.48%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.34% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.10% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 63.27 points or 0.68% to 9,348.10, Germany’s DAX gained 59.53 points or 0.25% to 23,799.00 and France’s CAC rose 3.02 points or 0.04% to 7,873.70.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday tracking Wall Street’s gains last Friday as in-line US inflation data reinforced expectations of further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The US Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index showed that Core inflation rate held at 2.9% in August on an annual basis, the same as July and in line with predictions. Chinese shares gained as rebound in Chinese industrial profits suggested the economy is stabilizing amid robust policy measures, while expectations of further stimulus from the People's Bank of China also bolstered market sentiment. Hong Kong shares surged ahead of China factory activity data due on Tuesday and the upcoming eight-day Golden Week holiday in China. However, Japan's Nikkei bucked the regional trend to close lower as numerous stocks went ex-dividend and investors became cautious ahead of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote.