The frontline indices traded sideways in afternoon trade as investors stayed cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where the central bank is expected to resume its easing cycle. Market sentiment was also supported by hopes of progress in India’s trade talks with Washington., The Nifty traded below the 25,150 mark. Realty, financial services and metal shares advanced, while IT, pharma and auto shares corrected.
At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 2.62 points or 0.00% to 81,907.32. The Nifty 50 index added 9.55 points or 0.04% to 25,103.15.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 0.41% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 0.70%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,345 shares rose and 1,766 shares fell. A total of 186 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
The Indian government has released the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data for August 2025, which showed that wholesale inflation rose to 0.52%, marking a return to positive territory after two consecutive months of deflation.
In July, wholesale inflation had dropped to a two-year low of -0.58%, while in June, it stood at -0.13%, the lowest in 20 months.
The government attributed the positive WPI inflation in August to rising prices in several categories, including food products, non-food articles, other manufacturing items, non-metallic mineral products, and transport equipment, among others.
Gainers & Losers:
Bajaj Finance (up 1.46%), Jio Financial Services (up 1.38%), Eternal (up 0.72%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.69%) and Coal India (up 0.57%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.
Asian Paints (down 1.50%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.48%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.34%), Cipla (down 1.02%) and Titan Company (down 0.96%) were the major Nifty50 Losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Sterling Tools rose 5.41% after its subsidiary, Sterling Gtake E-Mobility (SGEM), announced entry into EV on-board chargers and DC/DC converters through a technology partnership with China’s Landworld Technology.
Desco Infratech jumped 2% after the company announced that it has received new orders worth Rs 8.45 crore from Torrent Gas Jaipur.
Tata Technologies (TTL) added 1.27% after the firm’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Technologies Pte., Singapore has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity shares in ES-Tec GmbH for total consideration of euro 75 million.
RailTel Corporation of India surged 6.25% after the company received the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) worth Rs 209 crore from State Project Director (SPD) Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC).
Diamond Power Infrastructure rallied 5% after the company announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from Adani Energy Solutions for the supply of 5,403 KM of AL-59 Zebra Conductors for the Jamnagar Project.
Global Markets:
European shares opened higher on Monday, supported by gains in bank stocks, as investors prepared for a crucial week of central bank meetings, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
Asia market traded mixed as investors kept an eye on the talks between the U.S. and China in Spain, and assessed a slate of data from Beijing.
As per reports, U.S. and Chinese officials began talks in Madrid Sunday to discuss key national security, economic, and trade issues, including the upcoming deadline to divest Chinese short video app TikTok and U.S. tariffs.
South Korea’s Kospi index rose in early trade to a record high on Monday after Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said that the government will scrap its previous plan to raise taxes on stock investments.
In China, retail sales last month rose 3.4% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday, slowing from July’s 3.7% growth.
As per reports, the industrial output growth slowed to 5.2% in August, compared to the 5.7% jump in July, marking its weakest level since August 2024.
Fixed-asset investment, reported on a year-to-date basis, expanded just 0.5%, a sharp slowdown from the 1.6% expansion in the January to July period. Within that segment, the contraction in real estate investment worsened, slumping 12.9% in the first eight months, government data reportedly showed.
The major U.S. stock indexes finished mixed on Friday but still posted weekly gains ahead of next Wednesday's interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) rose 0.4% Friday to close at a record high and finish the week 2% higher. The S&P 500 (SPX) dipped 0.1% to post a weekly gain of 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.6% but closed the week up 1%.