Barometers trade with minor losses; broader market outperforms

The key equity indices traded with limited cuts in the mid- afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,150 mark. Oil & Gas shares declined after rising for three consecutive trading sessions. At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 102.78 points or 0.13% to 81,801.92. The Nifty 50 index shed 4.90 points or 0.02% to 25,108.50. The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.66%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,309 shares rose and 1,838 shares fell. A total of 208 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. India’s forex reserves were up by $4.03 billion to $698.2 6billion in week ending September 5, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. For the week ended September 5, foreign currency assets (FCAs), the largest component of the reserves, were up by $0.54 billion to $584.47 billion, the RBI data showed. Gold reserves were up by $3.53 billion, standing at $90.29 billion during the reporting week. Meanwhile, SDRs in the last week were down by $34 million to reach at $18.74 billion. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Oil & Gas index shed 0.09% to 11,081.10. The index rose 1.40% over the past three consecutive trading sessions. Oil India (down 1.03%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 0.64%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.58%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 0.46%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (down 0.46%) were the top losers. Among the other losers were Gujarat Gas (down 0.34%), Mahanagar Gas (down 0.25%), Indraprastha Gas (down 0.22%), Adani Total Gas (down 0.14%) and Petronet LNG (down 0.11%) declined. On the other hand, Aegis Logistics (up 7.05%) ,Castrol India (up 0.78%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.26%) added. Numbers to Track: The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.11% to 6.490 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 88.1775 compared with its close of 88.2600 during the previous trading session. MCX Gold futures for 3 October 2025 settlement shed 0.30% to Rs 109,021. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.02% to 97.57. The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.27% to 4.070. In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2025 settlement rose 28 cents or 0.42% to $67.27 a barrel. Stocks in Spotlight: Larsen & Toubro rose 0.25%. The compnay’s transportation infrastructure vertical has bagged a large order from the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) to build 156 route km of ballastless track for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor. MIC Electronics rose 0.49%. The company announced that it has secured two letters of acceptance (LoA) worth Rs 1.76 crore from Indian Railways, Sambalpur Division, Odisha, and Indian Railways, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.