Bears tighten grip over Dalal Street

Bears have tightened their grip over the Dalal Street during early afternoon deals, after the U.S. and Iran exchanged attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, reviving concerns about disruption to Middle East supplies. Both indices, Sensex and Nifty, were trading below their neutral lines with notable losses, as rising bond yields also kept investors on edge as a robust U.S. jobs report raised the probability that the Federal Reserve will increase its key interest rate at its upcoming policy meeting later this month.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as traders remained concerned about rising crude oil prices and related inflationary pressures after reports the US and Iran exchanged strikes on ships over the weekend.

Back home, auto stocks were in watch, as Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that the Automobile retail sales in India increased by 17.51% to a record 24,23,201 units in August 2026 from 20,62,038 units in the same period last year. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76067.02, down by 448.41 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 76021.56 and 76477.19. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.09%, Healthcare up by 0.44%, Auto up by 0.10% and Industrials up by 0.08%, while IT down by 2.08%, TECK down by 1.47%, Metal down by 1.44%, Realty down by 1.08% and Oil & Gas down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 0.77%, Maruti Suzuki India up by 0.59%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.44%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.34% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.34%, Tata Steel down by 2.17%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.15%, Trent down by 2.00% and HCL Technologies down by 1.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a move aimed at improving the reliability and availability of clean sources of power, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), under the power ministry, has proposed making energy storage systems mandatory for future renewable energy projects. In this regard, the authority released the Draft Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines) 2nd Amendment, Regulations, 2026.

Under the draft regulations issued by the CEA, renewable energy power plants commissioned after July 1, 2027 would require to have at least 15 per cent of their inverter equipped with grid forming control and all Power Conversion Systems (PCS) of battery energy storage system would need to have grid-forming capability to comply with the technical requirements. The draft also states that ground-mounted solar power plant and on-shore wind power plant which are commissioned after July 1, 2027 shall be equipped with co-located Energy Storage System (ESS) having a minimum storage duration of two hours and a capacity equivalent to at least 10 per cent of the installed capacity of the plant. 

Also, ground-mounted solar power plant and on-shore wind power plant which are commissioned after July 1, 2029 and up to June 30, 2031 shall be equipped with co-located ESS having a minimum storage duration of 4 hours and a capacity equivalent to at least 10 per cent of the installed capacity of the plant. The draft also said that any change in the percentage of requirement of grid forming capabilities or ESS capacity shall be notified by CEA from time to time. The proposals come as India pursues its target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23761.00, down by 136.70 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 23751.75 and 23890.00. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki India up by 1.02%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.78%, Power Grid up by 0.77%, Coal India up by 0.65% and Max Healthcare Inst. up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.51%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.69%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.06%, Tata Steel down by 2.05% and HCL Technologies down by 2.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI increased 308.18 points or 4.41% to 6,995.39, Taiwan Weighted added 775.14 points or 1.64% to 47,326.27, Nikkei 225 surged 1194.06 points or 1.8% to 66,215.00 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.58 points or 0.07% to 3,932.70, while Jakarta Composite plunged 12.08 points or 0.18% to 6,624.40, Hang Seng declined 216.87 points or 0.85% to 25,434.00 and Straits Times fell 6.77 points or 0.12% to 5,795.19.