Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally lower in morning deals, as selling in blue-chip stocks like NTPC and Power Grid along with persistent geopolitical uncertainty weighed on markets' sentiment. Traders remained cautious as U.S. inflation rose more than expected in July, adding uncertainty to the Federal Reserve's September policy decision. However, losses remain capped as some support came with industry body Assocham stating that India's bilateral trade with Japan is expected to reach $50 billion by 2030 on account of the growing economic complementarities and deeper business engagement between the two countries.
Both Sensex and Nifty erased opening gains and were trading with marginal losses, pressured by selling in Utilities, FMCG and Oil & Gas stocks. However, gains in Telecom and Capital Goods stocks helped cushion the decline. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as traders are optimistic about the opening of the Strait of Hormuz after official statements from Iran and Oman confirming they had agreed on a temporary maritime route for ships travelling through the narrow seaway.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77361.58, down by 111.36 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 77319.63 and 77694.97. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.56%, Capital Goods up by 0.54%, Industrials up by 0.34%, Consumer Durables up by 0.28% and Healthcare up by 0.10%, while Utilities down by 0.87%, FMCG down by 0.68%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, PSU down by 0.53% and Energy down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.99%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.79%, ICICI Bank up by 0.66% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.38%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.28%, Power Grid down by 1.26%, HCL Technologies down by 1.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.19% and HDFC Bank down by 0.85% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has said that deposits by non-resident Indians (NRIs) declined by more than 23% year-on-year (YoY) to $2.775 billion in April-June 2026-27 (Q1FY27). NRI deposits had recorded inflows of $3.614 billion in the April-June period of 2025-26. Despite the moderation in fresh inflows, outstanding NRI deposits rose to $168.506 billion at end-June 2026 from $168.327 billion a year earlier, on the back of NRO and FCNR(B) deposits.
Inflows into Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR(B) deposits more than doubled to $1.73 billion during April-June 2026-27. FCNR(B) deposits attracted $1.732 billion during April-June 2026-27, compared with $774 million in the year-ago period, an increase of about 124 per cent. The outstanding amount under FCNR(B) deposits rose to $35.487 billion at the end of June 2026 from $33.583 billion a year earlier. On a month-on-month basis, outstanding FCNR(B) deposits increased from $34.038 billion at end-May 2026 to $35.487 billion at end-June 2026.
The central bank introduced a special FCNR (B) window at its June Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, including bearing the cost of currency hedging, to increase foreign capital inflows and bolster India's external position. However, on August 14, the central bank had decided to close the window for fresh FCNR(B) deposits under the special swap facility on August 31, one month ahead of the scheduled September 30 closure.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24182.50, down by 25.25 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 24178.65 and 24297.45. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.22%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.47%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.38%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.09% and ICICI Bank up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 1.53%, NTPC down by 1.17%, HCL Technologies down by 1.08%, Power Grid down by 1.02% and HDFC Bank down by 0.98% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 228.59 points or 0.5% to 46,061.21, Jakarta Composite gained 47.19 points or 0.74% to 6,452.88, Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.6 points or 0.58% to 3,935.12 and KOSPI increased 88.73 points or 1.3% to 6,896.94.
On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 150.97 points or 0.59% to 25,502.00, Straits Times fell 40.67 points or 0.71% to 5,680.92 and Nikkei 225 slipped 87.16 points or 0.13% to 66,175.00.
