Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended higher with nearly half a percent higher on Wednesday, supported by value buying. Index made a gap-up start and remained higher throughout the session, as traders opted to buy fundamentally good stocks after a sell-off in the previous session. Buying mostly witnessed in FMCG and Banking stocks. Besides, traders were upbeat with the commerce ministry’s data showing that India’s merchandise exports rose by 26.10% to $43.81 billion in August 2026 as compared to $34.74 billion in August 2025, driven by a jump in petroleum product shipments. The growth in exports in August was the highest since June 2022, when shipments had risen 30.12%. Meanwhile, market participants were waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. Finally, Nifty ended above 23,200 mark.
Most of the sectorial indices ended in green led by FMCG, PSU Bank and Private Bank stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Patanjali Foods, PB Fintech and Max Financial Services. On the other hand, the top losers were Premier Energies, Kalyan Jewellers India and FSN E-Commerce Ventures. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 23900 - 24100 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
