Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks came under selling pressure and ended lower on Wednesday, as the escalating US-Iran conflict pushed crude oil prices and Treasury yields higher, while growing concerns over prolonged supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz weighed on investor sentiment.

Both the Sensex and Nifty closed around half a percent lower as selling pressure dominated across key sectors. Auto stocks emerged as the worst-performing sector, while select IT stocks and heavyweight counters also weighed on the indices.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India's current account deficit widens to $4.2 billion or 0.5% of GDP in Q1FY27: Sentiments remained downbeat as the RBI data showed that India’s current account deficit widened to $4.2 billion, or 0.5 per cent of GDP, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year from $3.4 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP a year ago. 

Govt raises duty on petrol, diesel exports amid war in West Asia: Traders took note of reports that the government of India has raised the rate of special additional excise duty (SAED) along with road and infrastructure cess on export of diesel to Rs 25 per litre from Rs 24 a litre. Further, the duty on petrol exports has been hiked to Rs 1.5 per litre, up from zero earlier.

FIIs turns net buyers: Traders overlooked exchange data showing Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) returned to buying Indian equities on September 1, recording net purchases of Rs 1,143.38 crore.

On the global front: European stocks were trading lower, while most Asian markets closed in the red, tracking weak signals from Wall Street overnight. Rising bond yields and a spike in crude oil prices, driven by renewed tensions in the Middle East, have heightened concerns over global inflation and the possibility of higher interest rates.

The BSE Sensex ended at 76570.35, down by 373.93 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 76135.72 and 76570.35. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.36%, Energy up by 0.72%, Power up by 0.52%, Realty up by 0.25% and PSU up by 0.06%, while Auto down by 1.68%, IT down by 1.17%, Capital Goods down by 1.08%, TECK down by 0.91%, Industrials down by 0.88% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.61%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 0.93%, NTPC up by 0.61%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.57% and ITC up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.10%, Asian Paints down by 1.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.68%, HCL Technologies down by 1.67% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.61% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with key stakeholders from the data centre industry to discuss measures to improve the ease of doing business in the sector. He said ‘we did a round table discussion with stakeholders related to the data centre industry on ease of doing business to promote data centres in a big way because undoubtedly, India is the world's best location to set up data centres.’

The minister said emerging sectors such as data centres, semiconductor industries and artificial intelligence, along with India’s expanding manufacturing base, would support economic growth in the coming years and help the country move towards becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047. He said ‘nothing less than $200 billion can be seen coming into the data centres industry.’

He said some of the participants, particularly the large hyperscalers, international investors and Indian companies looking to invest in data centers, indicated that huge potential is there in the country to attract investments in the segment. He said ‘we are proud of the people of India who, even in these very unnerving and difficult times, with two wars raging and global uncertainty and volatility, have given India 7.8 per cent growth in the quarter from April to June 2026.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 23914.45, down by 141.35 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 23786.80 and 23914.45. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.05%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.97%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.91% and Tata Motors Passenger up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 3.24%, Wipro down by 2.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.12%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.87% and Asian Paints down by 1.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; Germany’s DAX lost 201.61 points or 0.78% to 25,768.50, France’s CAC fell 50.35 points or 0.61% to 8,251.50 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 54.49 points or 0.51% to 10,734.79.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Wednesday as escalating US-Iran tensions pushed Brent crude prices and global bond yields higher. Besides, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr’s comments have sparked fears of interest hike among investors. He indicated that he would back a rate hike if inflation doesn't cool quickly. Market participants were cautiously awaiting US jobs data for more clues on the interest-rate path ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting. The US ADP private payrolls data for August 2026 is scheduled to be released today and the US nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi fell near 4% as the country’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.1% in August 2026, moving further above the central bank’s 2% target.