The domestic equity benchmarks ended lower on Monday, with the Nifty 50 breaking an eight-session winning streak. Investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision later this week, even as sentiment was supported by hopes of progress in India-U.S. trade talks. The Nifty slipped below the 25,100 mark, while realty, PSU banks and energy shares gained but IT and auto counters declined.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 118.96 points or 0.15% to 81,785.74. The Nifty 50 index shed 44.80 points or 0.18% to 25,069.20. In the past eight sessions, the 50 unit index climbed 2.17%.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.67%), Infosys (down 1.15%) and Titan Company (down 1.14%) were major Nifty drags today.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.66%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,330 shares rose and 1,889 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, added 2.71% to 10.40.

Economy:

India's inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) index rose to 0.52% in August 2025, 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.

Meanwhile, India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $26.49 billion in August from $27.35 billion in July. Exports in August decreased to $35.1 billion from $37.24 billion in July, while imports dipped to $61.59 billion from $64.59 billion in the previous month.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.20% to 6.496 from the previous close of 6.483.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 88.2000 compared with its close of 88.2600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 October 2025 settlement shed 0.32% to Rs 109,015.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.13% to 97.42.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.22% to 4.068.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2025 settlement rose 67 cents or 0.12% to $67.07 a barrel.

Global Market:

Most European shares rose 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 ended 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%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The Nifty Realty index 2.41% today. Anant Raj (up 9.98%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 3.44%), Brigade Enterprises (up 2.58%), DLF (up 2.43%), Oberoi Realty (up 2.38%), Godrej Properties (up 2.15%), Phoenix Mills (up 2.08%), Macrotech Developers (up 1.99%), Sobha (up 1.98%), Raymond (up 1.28%) surged.

Vodafone Idea surged 6.26% after media reports said the Supreme Court has fixed a tentative hearing for 19 September 2025. The case relates to the telco's petition against the Department of Telecom's (DoT) demand for Rs 9,450 crore in additional Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues.

KRBL tumbled 9.59% after the company disclosed the resignation of independent director Anil Kumar Chaudhary, who raised serious concerns over governance practices.

Northern ARC Capital surged 8.14% to Rs 266.30 after a domestic brokerage initiated coverage with a 'Buy' rating and a price target of Rs 335.

Sterling Tools added 4.19% 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.

RailTel Corporation of India surged 6.67% 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 5.42% 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.

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 1.33% 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.

DCX Systems added 0.87%. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) through its Nodal Agency Guidance at T N Rising Investment Conclave to set up a manufacturing facility for a JV company at Hosur.

Waaree Energies fell 1.50%. The company's arm incorporates three wholly-owned subsidiaries in the name of Waaree Forever Energies Four, Waaree Forever Energies Five and Waaree Forever Energies One.

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