The key domestic indices continued to trade in narrow range with modest gains in early afternoon trade, supported by robust GST collection in August. Optimism prevailed ahead of the GST council meeting scheduled later this week. Investors are closely tracking developments on U.S. tariff measures, FII outcome and monthly auto sales data. The Nifty hovered above 24,700 level.
Metal shares jumped for the second consecutive trading session.
At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 302.95 points or 0.38% to 80,667.44. The Nifty 50 index added 105.40 points or 0.43% to 24,731.35.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 0.57% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.99%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,785 shares rose and 1,203 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India collected 1.86 trillion rupees ($21.26 billion) as goods and services tax in August, 6.5% higher than the same period last year, the government said on Monday.
Trump Tariffs:
Activity on the domestic bourses will be in focus after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said that India had offered to reduce its tariffs on U.S. imports to zero.
"They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that the U.S.′ relationship with India was “one sided”, the report added.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index gained 1.34% to 9,430.35. The index rallied 3.01% in the two consecutive trading sessions.
National Aluminium Company (up 5.02%), NMDC (up 3.88%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.74%), Hindustan Copper (up 2.53%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.57%), Tata Steel (up 1.52%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.39%), Jindal Steel (up 1.37%), JSW Steel (up 1.09%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.81%) surged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 1.21% to 11.16. The Nifty 30 September 2025 futures were trading at 24,837.90, at a premium of 106.55 points as compared with the spot at 24,731.35.
The Nifty option chain for the 30 September 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 58.4 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 52.8 lakh contracts was seen at 24,000 strike price.
Stock in Spotlight:
Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.17%. The company total sales marginally shed 0.60% to 180,683 units in August 2025 as against 181,782 units sold in August 2024.