Key gauges fall for 3rd straight day due to escalating West Asia tensions

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losing streak to a third consecutive session on Wednesday following a bearish trend in global equities and higher oil prices due to escalating conflict in West Asia. Traders overlooked the exchange data showing that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) returned to buying Indian equities on September 1, recording net purchases of Rs 1,143.38 crore. 

Both the indices closed in negative territory, with the Sensex falling over 370 points and the Nifty settling below the psychological 24,000-mark amid broad-based selling in heavyweight stocks. Auto stocks remained the biggest drag, with IT and Capital Goods also under pressure. However, the markets managed to recover from their early lows as buying emerged in select Utilities and Energy stocks.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India's current account deficit widens to $4.2 billion or 0.5% of GDP in Q1FY27: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) widened to $4.2 billion, or 0.5 per cent of GDP in Q1FY27 from $3.4 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP, in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

DGFT automates certification process to promote ease of doing business for exporters: With an aim to make export procedures simpler and more efficient, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has introduced automated issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates (FSC) through its portal. 

India’s ER&D sector likely to generate over $100 billion in revenue by 2030: IT industry body Nasscom, in its report has said that India’s engineering research and development (ER&D) sector is expected to generate more than $100 billion in revenue by 2030, driven by the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into core engineering workflows.

Commerce ministry discusses India-US trade performance with exporters: The report said that the commerce ministry has asked industry and exporters to share their concerns regarding access to the US market so that the issues can be taken up with their American counterparts. 

Global front: European markets were trading lower, while Asian markets settled mostly lower as higher oil prices and elevated bond yields fueled concerns about inflation and Federal Reserve rate hikes. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 373.93 points or 0.49% to 76,570.35 and the CNX Nifty was down by 141.35 points or 0.59% to 23,914.45.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 76,570.35 and 76,135.72, respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.        

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% and Industrials down by 0.88% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.63%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.02%, Power Grid up by 1.00%, NTPC up by 0.96% and Titan Company up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.56%, HDFC Bank down by 1.56%, HCL Technologies down by 1.49% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) widened to $4.2 billion, or 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (Q1FY27) from $3.4 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP, in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Merchandise trade deficit stood at $86.1 billion in the April-June period of 2026-27 was higher than $68.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025-26. Net services receipts increased to $51.6 billion in Q1 2026-27 from $47.9 billion a year ago. Services exports have risen on a year-on-year basis in major categories such as computer services, other business services and transportation services.

The data also showed that personal transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $42.9 billion in Q1 2026-27 from $33.2 billion in Q1 2025-26. Further, foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded a net inflow of $6.1 billion in the first quarter, higher than $5.2 billion in the comparable period of the last financial year.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 23,914.45 and 23,786.80, respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.05%, NTPC up by 1.85%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.97% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.91%. 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. 

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 69.92 points or 0.65% to 10,719.36, France’s CAC fell 58.05 points or 0.7% to 8,243.80 and Germany’s DAX lost 221.61 points or 0.86% to 25,748.50.

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.