Key indices continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, amid heightened geopolitical tensions, as attacks on ships in the Middle East persisted and the U.S. and Iran remained deadlocked over efforts to bring their five-month-old war to a permanent end. Investor sentiment also remained cautious after data showed retail inflation, measured by the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) with the base year 2024, rose to 4.45% (Provisional) in July 2026 from 4.38% (Final) in June 2026, as food prices remained elevated.

Both Sensex and Nifty traded in red in morning deals, weighed down by losses in Metal, Consumer Durables and Basic Materials stocks, even as the Telecom and Realty counters offered some support. Market sentiment was further weighed down by exchange data showing that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,002.50 crore on a net basis on Wednesday. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after the annual rates for both U.S. headline and core inflation eased slightly from June, prompting bets the Federal Reserve would leave its policy rate unchanged at its September meeting.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77699.85, down by 266.50 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 77665.89 and 78119.39. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.69%, Realty up by 0.53%, Industrials up by 0.43%, FMCG up by 0.43% and Auto up by 0.35%, while Metal down by 0.84%, Consumer Durables down by 0.78%, Basic Materials down by 0.55%, Energy down by 0.50% and Power down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.49%, Interglobe Aviation up by 0.95%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.88%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.87% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.80%, Titan Company down by 1.57%, Infosys down by 1.28%, Power Grid down by 1.06% and Reliance Industries down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), in its working paper ‘An Investigation Into Corporate Profits and Investment’, has recommended the intensification of targeted support measures for innovative firms to speed up investment decisions, alongside increased public investment to encourage private investment. It said the data shows that corporate investment was increasing till FY20 before falling sharply during the pandemic. it said ‘Existing policy support measures need to be intensified. These include production-linked incentive schemes and public investment aimed at crowding in private investment.’

It noted that the global economy has shown a rise in corporate profits and profitability, accompanied by subdued investment sentiment since the global financial crisis, with the problem worsening after the pandemic. It also recommended 'intensification of targeted support measures for innovative firms' and increased industry-academia linkage, as well as policy measures to increase the efficiency of contract enforcement and commercial dispute redressal.

It pointed out that post-pandemic, recovery of aggregate profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) and firm-level profitability has been sustained, with a growth rate of 21.4 per cent in FY24. Corporate investment has also recovered, but the recovery has been slower and less sustained. The growth of gross fixed assets (GFA) was 6.1 per cent in FY24. The slower recovery was particularly relevant for foreign-owned firms and Indian private firms.

According to it, cross-sectional analysis shows that the high investment levels recorded in FY20 were driven by a spike in high investment intensity among certain large asset-rich companies. It said ‘Such a high intensity spike disappeared during the pandemic and was not observed in the post-pandemic recovery period, partly explaining the decline and slower recovery of investment levels.’ It added that there is also evidence of downward pressure on firm-level investment driven by a decline in marginal profitability.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24319.15, down by 116.80 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 24316.30 and 24431.60. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 1.97%, Eternal up by 1.51%, Tata Motors Passenger up by 1.49%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.22% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 2.53%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.21%, Grasim Industries down by 1.78%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.62% and Titan Company down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1055.94 points or 1.56% to 68,580.00, Taiwan Weighted added 529.37 points or 1.16% to 46,047.44, Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.23 points or 0.41% to 3,962.91, KOSPI increased 265.58 points or 4.04% to 6,844.62 and Hang Seng advanced 16.83 points or 0.07% to 25,457.00.

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 26.06 points or 0.46% to 5,694.69 and Jakarta Composite plunged 74.08 points or 1.16% to 6,299.77.