Indian markets cut most of gains in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks cut most of their gains to trade near their neutral lines during early afternoon session. Fall was limited in the markets, after Japanese credit rating agency (JCR) has upgraded India’s sovereign rating (Foreign Currency and Local Currency Long-term Issuer Ratings) to ‘A-’ from ‘BBB+’, with a stable outlook.

Both indices, Sensex and Nifty, gave up their initial gains as investors turned cautious amid persistent geopolitical concerns and global market uncertainty. Downside remained capped, as easing global bond yields have provided some support.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after China's services activity grew at a faster pace in August driven by the increase in new business and sustained growth in employment. The survey results published by S&P Global showed that the headline RatingDog services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.4 in August from 50.4 in July. The reading was expected to rise moderately to 50.6.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76605.99, up by 35.64 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 76563.78 and 76924.48. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.03%, Capital Goods up by 0.89%, Industrials up by 0.72%, Power up by 0.71% and Bankex up by 0.62%, while IT down by 0.72%, Consumer Durables down by 0.57%, TECK down by 0.54%, Metal down by 0.52% and FMCG down by 0.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.90%, Axis Bank up by 1.40%, HDFC Bank up by 1.05%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.02% and State Bank Of India up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.61%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.99%, HCL Technologies down by 0.89% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has raised a $127.23 billion in Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR-B) deposits under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) special USD-INR forex swap facility till August 31. RBI had launched the facility on June 8, 2026, in effort to strengthen India’s external sector position and support foreign exchange liquidity amid global market uncertainties. The facility was for FCNR-B deposits, Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCB) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).

RBI’s measures have led to a surge in foreign exchange inflows into the country. India attracted total inflows of $136.377 billion as on August 31 under the special USD-INR forex swap facility with FCNR-B deposits alone accounting for $127.226 billion (provisional). RBI has emphasized that the FCNR-B inflows underscore the overwhelming response of Non-Resident Indians to the scheme. Further, OFCBs contributed $5.26 billion to the inflows while ECBs amounted to $3.891 billion.

Under the FCNR-B scheme, banks offered attractive interest rates to mobilise foreign currency deposits. FCNR-B deposits are foreign-currency-denominated fixed deposits, and both the principal and interest are repayable in the same foreign currency. Meanwhile, the response has been strong enough for the RBI to advance the closure of the FCNR-B window itself, from September 30 to August 31, 2026, having already achieved its objective ahead of schedule. The swap scheme for ECBs and OFCBs will remain open until December 31, 2026, as hitherto.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23907.75, down by 6.70 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 23904.80 and 24025.40. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.84%, Axis Bank up by 1.47%, HDFC Bank up by 0.99%, ICICI Bank up by 0.97% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.24%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.45%, Cipla down by 1.30%, Eicher Motors down by 1.13% and HCL Technologies down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite gained 40.99 points or 0.62% to 6,636.77, KOSPI increased 16.76 points or 0.25% to 6,579.48, Straits Times rose 3.82 points or 0.07% to 5,747.93 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.7 points or 0.02% to 3,942.09, while Taiwan Weighted lost 307.06 points or 0.67% to 45,857.66, Hang Seng declined 117.21 points or 0.46% to 25,194.00 and Nikkei 225 slipped 55.64 points or 0.09% to 64,270.00.