Indian equity benchmarks added some losses in late morning deals as growing prospect of tighter domestic and global monetary conditions persisting for longer, surging crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows dented sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,121.37 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Traders remained cautious as apex exporters body FIEO stated that higher borrowing costs could increase the financial burden on exporters, particularly MSMEs, at a time when global trade is facing heightened uncertainty. The statement came in the backdrop of the RBI raising the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.5 per cent.
Both indices remained in the red during late morning deals, with Sensex losing over 0.60% and Nifty was trading down by over 0.70%, with broad-based selling in heavyweight stocks Utilities sector was leading the losers, followed by Power and Metal counters. However, IT and TECK stocks traded higher as Investors turn their focus to the September-quarter earnings season, with TCS is scheduled to report its quarterly results later in the day. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as rising volatility in crude oil prices, global currency and bond yields continue to weigh on market sentiment.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72160.16, down by 478.54 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 72113.19 and 72693.97. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.13%, TECK up by 0.49% and Consumer Durables up by 0.10%, while Utilities down by 2.55%, Power down by 2.15%, Metal down by 2.06%, Energy down by 1.63% and Oil & Gas down by 1.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.68%, TCS up by 1.66%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.53%, Infosys up by 1.47% and Titan Company up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 3.07%, ITC down by 2.90%, Power Grid down by 2.33%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.74% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.50% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said the massive surplus liquidity in India's banking system will be absorbed within the current financial year itself (FY27). He said factors such as currency leakage, the Reserve Bank's liquidity operations and banks' reserve requirements would gradually absorb a substantial part of the surplus. He noted that there is a leakage of over Rs 3 lakh crore from the currency in circulation front every year, and added that reductions will also happen via forex sell-buy swaps, the Reserve Bank of India's open market operations, VRRs (variable reverse repo) operations and also spot interventions done to support the rupee.
The governor said banking system liquidity had increased substantially during August and September following the recent measures undertaken to attract capital inflows. System liquidity, as measured by the net position under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF), stood at an average daily surplus of Rs 5.9 lakh crore since the last MPC meeting in August 2026. The average daily net absorption under the liquidity adjustment facility increased to Rs 5.8 lakh crore in August and further to Rs 7.8 lakh crore in September, from Rs 1.2 lakh crore in July 2026. The measures taken to absorb liquidity combined with quarterly advance tax outflows moderated the surplus liquidity in September.
He said the Reserve Bank conducted 55 variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions, including 2 term VRRR auctions and OMO sales amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore since the August 2026 policy. On the large inflows under the FCNR(B) deposit scheme, he said banks should not rush to deploy the funds and should undertake proper due diligence before lending. He said the strong growth in credit deployment was already showing that banks had started using the FCNR(B) funds, but given the size of the inflows, their deployment should be prudent.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22435.30, down by 167.75 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 22419.55 and 22599.05. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.65%, TCS up by 1.52%, Infosys up by 1.46%, Titan Company up by 1.44% and HCL Technologies up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 4.63%, ITC down by 3.44%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.89%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.89% and Max Healthcare down by 2.69% were the top losers.
All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 435.71 points or 0.62% to 69,600.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 366.26 points or 0.74% to 49,440.11, Jakarta Composite plunged 49.32 points or 0.81% to 6,097.40, Shanghai Composite weakened 24.4 points or 0.64% to 3,817.79, KOSPI dropped 89.60 points or 1.32% to 6,714.30, Hang Seng declined 173.5 points or 0.72% to 23,957.00 and Straits Times fell 182.66 points or 3.26% to 5,425.78.
