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Key gauges end higher amid value buying
Sep-16-2026

Indian equity benchmarks rebounded after falling sharply in the previous session and ended with gains of around half percent each, supported by value buying in FMCG, Realty and Banking stocks amid gains across regional markets. However, elevated oil prices, caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision and foreign fund outflows capped the rally in the markets. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Indian economy more likely to remain resilient amid geopolitical tensions: Amid renewed geopolitical tensions, elevated crude oil prices and hardening global bond yields, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V  Anantha Nageswaran has said that the Indian economy is more likely to remain resilient than become vulnerable.

Unemployment rate in India declines to 5% in August: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data showed that the overall unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above dropped slightly to 5% in August from 5.1% in July, while it was 5.1% in August 2025. 

India's merchandise exports jump 26.10% in August driven by petroleum products: The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose by 26.10 per cent to $43.81 billion in August 2026 as compared to $34.74 billion in August 2025, driven by a jump in petroleum product shipments. 

India-New Zealand FTA likely to take effect by late next month: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said the India-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) is expected to take effect by late next month, with official dates to be announced shortly. The two countries signed the free trade agreement on April 27 to boost two-way commerce in goods and services and promote investment.

Global front: European markets were trading higher, even as data revealed that Eurozone industrial production declined for the second straight month in July, reflecting a weak start to the third quarter. Asian markets settled mostly higher as oil prices pulled back from recent highs and investors braced for a closely watched Federal Reserve rate decision later in the day. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 332.63 points or 0.45% to 74,336.45 and the CNX Nifty was up by 99.00 points or 0.43% to 23,217.60.     

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,505.86 and 73,981.33, respectively. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.             

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.44%, Realty up by 0.95%, Bankex up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77% and Energy up by 0.73%, while IT down by 1.42%, TECK down by 0.86%, Telecom down by 0.77%, Power down by 0.48% and Utilities down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.46%, State Bank of India up by 2.24%, Axis Bank up by 1.93%, Trent up by 1.51% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.45%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.60%, Infosys down by 1.43%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.26%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.99% and NTPC down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data showed that the overall unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above dropped slightly to 5% in August from 5.1% in July, while it was 5.1% in August 2025. During August 2026, the rural unemployment rate has declined from 4.5% in July to 4.1%, while urban UR inched up to 6.8% from 6.7% in July. The August UR in rural areas was the lowest since January 2026. 

The overall UR among males aged 15 years and above declined for the third consecutive month, reaching 4.9% in August from 5.4% in May 2026. During the month, rural male UR declined from 4.6% in July to 4.3%, while urban male UR rose slightly to 6.1% from 5.9% in July. Besides, the UR among females aged 15 years and above declined for two consecutive months to 5.1% in August 2026 from 5.9Â % in June 2026. Rural female UR decreased from 4.3% in July to 3.9% in August, while urban female UR remained broadly stable compared to the previous month.

During the August, the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.6% in August from 55.4% in July. A similar trend has also been observed in rural areas, where the LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 58.2% in August, from 58.0% in July. LFPR remained steady in urban areas at 50.4% in August, compared to the previous month.  The female LFPR increased for the second consecutive month, reaching 34.8% in August 2026.

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased in the month of August to 52.8% from 52.5% in July, driven by increased workforce participation in rural areas. WPR in rural areas recorded an increase to 55.8% in August from 55.4% in the previous month, while urban WPR maintained the same level of 47% in August as observed in July. The overall WPR showed an increase of 0.6 percentage points over the corresponding month of the previous year, from 52.2% in August 2025 to 52.8% in August 2026. Further, a year-on-year comparison indicates an increase in the overall female WPR, with a 33% rise in August from 32% in August 2025.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 23,284.75 and 23,116.10, respectively. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.73%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.65%, State Bank of India up by 2.42%, ITC up by 2.38% and Nestle India up by 1.65%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.76%, Wipro down by 1.83%, Infosys down by 1.58%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.14% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.12% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 60.33 points or 0.57% to 10,718.46, France’s CAC rose 33.82 points or 0.42% to 8,124.10 and Germany’s DAX gained 102.42 points or 0.4% to 25,504.70.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday supported by slight cool off in US bond yields. However, investors remained cautious amid escalating Middle East tensions and supply threats to crude from an outage on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. Further, traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates by 25 basis points, marking its first hike in around three years in an effort to curb inflationary pressures. South Korea’s Kospi rose amid gains in semiconductor stocks. Meanwhile, Malaysian market remained closed in observance of the Malaysia Day public holiday. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,891.60

27.32

0.71

Hang Seng

24,713.78

46.54

0.19

Jakarta Composite

6,436.85

-24.30

-0.38

KLSE Composite

--

--

--

Nikkei 225

63,923.00

438.90

0.69

Straits Times

5,635.41

-3.23

-0.06

KOSPI Composite

6,717.97

90.71

1.37

Taiwan Weighted

45,848.90

337.41

0.74
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