Nifty rises 0.5% as metals and financials lead, but global cues turn weaker

Indian equities extended their recovery on September 23 as metal and financial shares attracted buying, while softer crude and a stronger domestic activity signal helped offset geopolitical risk. The move was broad enough to support the benchmarks, but the session was not a clean risk-on shift: IT remained under pressure and the rupee weakened against the dollar.

The immediate test for the September 24 open is whether the domestic growth narrative can absorb a less supportive global backdrop. US equities fell overnight as oil rebounded, Treasury yields rose and the dollar strengthened. That combination can put pressure on Indian technology shares, foreign flows and valuation-sensitive segments even after domestic institutions supported the previous session.

Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries and JSW Steel were among the main index gainers. Market reports linked the metal move to firmer copper prices, which had reached fresh highs, and to expectations of better pricing for some steel producers. SAIL also gained after a price increase. The implication is sector-specific rather than a broad commodity call: higher realised prices can improve revenue assumptions, but the durability of the move will depend on demand and input costs, neither of which was established by the session.

Bajaj Finance was the largest contributor among the reported gainers, while Bajaj Finance and L&T Finance also benefited after UBS upgraded Bajaj Finance to Neutral from Sell and L&T Finance to Buy from Neutral. The market response was reported as a reaction to the brokerage actions; it does not by itself establish a change in the companies’ operating outlook. Apollo Hospitals also featured among the leading gainers.

IT shares lagged. Reports attributed the weakness to continued selling in technology stocks rather than to a new company-specific result. That underperformance matters for the index because it offset some of the gains in metals and financials and leaves the sector exposed to the higher US-yield and stronger-dollar backdrop.

The Reserve Bank of India scheduled another Rs 25,000 crore government-securities sale for September 28, the final leg of a planned Rs 1 lakh crore open-market-operations sale programme. The central bank said the measures would absorb surplus liquidity following large foreign-currency inflows, including through FCNR(B) deposits. The direct market implication is tighter system liquidity, although the effect on bond yields will depend on auction demand and the broader oil and rate environment.

The Finance Ministry said public-sector banks and regional rural banks would remain open on Sunday, September 27, ahead of a proposed three-day bank strike from September 28 to 30. The RBI approved the operation of bank branches, offices, ATM-linked branches and currency chests. This is primarily an operational continuity measure, but it keeps banking-service disruption on the agenda for financial stocks and customers.

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator was working to make the corporate-bond market more accessible and liquid. Measures cited included a lower minimum face value for privately placed debt, lower thresholds for electronic book platforms, broader access for REITs and InvITs, shorter public-debt listing timelines and a pilot for bond tokenisation under Demat 2.0.

Wall Street ended lower on September 23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.68%, the S&P 500 declined 0.75% and the Nasdaq lost 1.13%. Reports attributed the weakness to higher Treasury yields, renewed inflation concerns after oil’s rebound and a more cautious tone around technology shares.

Brent settled at $103.08 a barrel after rising 3.9%, reversing the recent decline as US-Iran tensions remained in focus. The dollar strengthened against major currencies, while the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.11% according to a markets report. For India, higher oil increases pressure on the import bill and inflation, while higher US yields can make dollar assets more attractive and complicate foreign portfolio flows.

Foreign institutional investors were provisional net buyers of Rs 1,617.45 crore in Indian equities on September 23, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 2,341.46 crore. The foreign buying followed net selling of Rs 3,809.99 crore in the previous session. The one-day reversal provided support, but September remained a month of net foreign selling, leaving flows sensitive to oil, yields and geopolitical developments.

The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI rose to 56.5 in September from 54.3 in August and exceeded the Reuters poll median forecast of 54.4. Manufacturing PMI increased to 55.7 from 52.8, while the services index rose to 55.8 from 54.1. The data point to firmer private-sector activity, led by manufacturing, and provide a domestic counterweight to weaker external cues.

The PMI survey also contained caveats. New export orders grew at their slowest pace in 33 months, services hiring lost momentum and selling-price inflation was broadly unchanged. Input-cost inflation eased to its lowest since January. The combination supports the reported improvement in activity but does not remove the risk that external demand and pricing pressures could restrain the next leg of growth.

The OECD raised its FY2026-27 India growth forecast to 7.1% from 6.3% previously, citing resilient domestic demand and government support. Fitch raised its forecast to 6.9% from 6.4%, while S&P Global raised its projection to 7% from 6.6%. These are forecasts rather than new activity data, and the different estimates show that the growth outlook has improved without eliminating uncertainty over inflation and monetary policy.

Bharat Dynamics received an Rs 810.79 crore contract from the Indian Air Force for 160 Satellite Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons and associated equipment under the Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category. The order adds visibility to the defence manufacturer’s pipeline; the company had reported June-quarter profit of Rs 118.8 crore, up from Rs 18.4 crore a year earlier, and revenue from operations of Rs 572.2 crore, up from Rs 247.9 crore.

Skipper disclosed fresh domestic and international power-transmission and distribution orders worth Rs 797 crore, including transmission-tower and monopole supplies for Australia and a 765-kilovolt transmission-line project in India. The company did not provide the individual values of the contracts, so the disclosed total is the relevant comparison available.

Persistent Systems secured 61.15% of Nagarro SE’s outstanding share capital through a voluntary public takeover offer, after already acquiring a 22.10% stake under a share-purchase agreement. Market reports said the stock weakened after the announcement. Separately, 360 ONE WAM appointed Aashish Agarwal as chief executive effective February 15, 2027; current chief executive Karan Bhagat will become vice-chairman while continuing as managing director.

The NSE IPO is the main primary-market event for the session, with trading scheduled to begin on the BSE on September 24. The issue was entirely an offer for sale, with a price band of Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,785 a share and total issue size of Rs 22,561.57 crore. Its debut will be watched as a test of the primary-market appetite after the large subscription response.

The market will also track the Rs 426.27 crore A-One Steels India IPO, which opens on September 24, and the Varmora Granito IPO, which closes the same day. These issues add to the demand for investor capital while the NSE listing provides the day’s most visible liquidity and price-discovery event.