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Weak trade persists over Dalal Street
Sep-24-2026

A weak trade persisted over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, as rising oil prices and bond yields in international markets rekindled concerns about India's import bill, inflation and earnings. Both benchmark indices continued to trade under pressure, with the Sensex and Nifty falling over 1% each, amid broad-based selling. Banking and financial stocks remained major drags. Traders overlooked reports that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Interim Economic Outlook has raised India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for the current fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) by 80 basis points to 7.1 per cent, up from 6.3 per cent projected in June.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.1. That's down from 54.9, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73973.00, down by 855.25 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 73947.70 and 74362.29. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Realty up by 0.13%, while Bankex down by 1.58%, Telecom down by 1.39%, Metal down by 1.22%, Energy down by 1.00% and Basic Materials down by 0.97% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 0.25%, TCS up by 0.24%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.19% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 4.94%, Axis Bank down by 4.68%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.79%, Reliance Industries down by 1.50% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that the domestic packaging paper industry is poised to extend its double-digit growth trajectory in this fiscal (FY27), with revenues expected to expand by 10-11%. Volume growth of 6-7% and 3-4% gains in realisations are expected to drive the expansion. Growing demand from consumption-linked sectors, rising use of recyclable packaging and a richer product mix should further support growth. 

According to the report, efficiency-focused investments are also expected to improve operating margins by 40-50 bps to around 9%. Credit profiles are likely to remain stable as companies largely fund capex through internal accruals. Packaging paper - comprising kraft paper, duplex board and virgin board - is expected to account for nearly two-thirds of domestic paper volumes this fiscal, up from just over half in fiscal 2022, as paper-based formats gain penetration across consumption-linked sectors and the shift towards sustainable packaging gathers pace.

The report further noted that with wastepaper prices - the largest cost component - largely outside manufacturers’ control, investments are increasingly targeting controllable costs such as energy, labour and logistics. Waste-to-energy boilers, renewable power, agro-residue processing and debottlenecking, together with higher realisations, should partly offset input-cost pressures and lift operating profitability by 40-50 bps this fiscal. It further said that a rise in cheaper imports could pressure domestic realisations, while supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions could raise wastepaper, energy and logistics costs. The extent to which efficiency gains offset these pressures will therefore remain a key monitorable.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23172.65, down by 274.15 points or 1.17% after trading in a range of 23166.00 and 23281.95. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.02%, SBI Life Insurance up by 0.40%, NTPC up by 0.11%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.08% and TCS up by 0.05%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.15%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 5.09%, Axis Bank down by 4.54%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.90% and Hindalco Industries down by 2.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite plunged 85.68 points or 1.34% to 6,289.23, Shanghai Composite weakened 48.15 points or 1.24% to 3,888.37, Straits Times fell 20.58 points or 0.36% to 5,689.33, Hang Seng declined 78.12 points or 0.31% to 24,756.00 and Taiwan Weighted lost 132.69 points or 0.28% to 48,024.60, while Nikkei 225 surged 581.05 points or 0.89% to 65,600.00.
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