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Markets trade below neutral lines in late morning deals
Sep-22-2026

Indian equity markets traded below the neutral lines in late morning deals as investors were cautious after the government data showed that nine key infrastructure sectors’ output growth slowed down to 4.8 per cent in August 2026 due to a fall in the output of coal, natural gas, crude oil, and fertilizer. Further, caution also prevailed in the markets amid concerns over escalating Iran-U.S. tensions after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that all Iranian airlines would be shut down from Wednesday.

Both the Sensex and Nifty were trading slightly in the red amid selling pressure in Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel. Meanwhile, some volatility prevailed in the Nifty ahead of its weekly expiry today. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in the green following positive cues from the US markets overnight.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74775.57, down by 83.42 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 74671.63 and 75038.93. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.41%, Realty up by 0.65%, Consumer Disc up by 0.51%, Consumer Durables up by 0.29% and Power up by 0.28%, while IT down by 1.03%, TECK down by 0.64%, FMCG down by 0.30%, Metal down by 0.18% and Bankex down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 1.54%, HDFC Bank up by 0.68%, Interglobe Aviation up by 0.67%, Eternal up by 0.58% and Asian Paints up by 0.55%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.63%, Infosys down by 1.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.47%, TCS down by 1.32% and Trent down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that nine key infrastructure sectors’ output growth slowed down to 4.8 per cent in August 2026 due to a fall in the output of coal, natural gas, crude oil, and fertiliser. The output expanded by 6.2 per cent in August 2025 and by 5 per cent in July 2026. During April-August, the pace of growth was higher at 4.3 per cent compared to 2.4 per cent in the same period of 2025-26.  

According to the data, Iron Ore production having 4.90% weight increased by 5.5 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025, and its cumulative index rose by 21.8 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Steel production having 17.58% weight increased by 3.4 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index rose by 4.1 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. 

Electricity generation having 30.93% weight increased by 11.6 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 9.6 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Cement production having 4.41% weight increased by 12.5 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 10.3 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 22.57% weight increased by 2.6 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 1.4 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  

Coal production having 5.59% weight decreased by 3.8 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025, and its cumulative index declined by 3.2 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Crude Oil production having 7.43% weight declined by 3.6 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 4.1 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.73% weight declined by 12.4 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 6.7 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Natural Gas production having 3.84% weight declined by 4.9 per cent in August 2026 over August 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 4.4 per cent during April to August 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23392.15, down by 22.15 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 23363.00 and 23489.00. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.10%, Titan Company up by 1.55%, Dr. Reddy's Labs. up by 1.34%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.25% and Asian Paints up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.39%, Infosys down by 1.33%, Cipla down by 1.25%, Grasim Industries down by 0.94% and Sun Pharma down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Taiwan Weighted added 81.33 points or 0.17% to 47,800.17, Shanghai Composite strengthened 7.94 points or 0.2% to 3,957.85, KOSPI increased 43.54 points or 0.62% to 7,051.26, Hang Seng advanced 84.29 points or 0.34% to 25,127.00 and Straits Times rose 46.78 points or 0.82% to 5,722.01. However, Jakarta Composite fell 71.16 or 1.11% to 6313. 57. 
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