MUMBAI : September began almost flat on the surface and under clear pressure underneath. The Sensex closed at 76,944.28, down just 13 points. The Nifty finished at 24,055.80, off 25 points, after spending much of the session hovering near 24,000.
Banks and autos did the damage. The Nifty Bank index fell 1.1%, with State Bank of India and Axis Bank among the notable losers. The auto index dropped 1.2%. Pharma stocks declined 1.5%, while consumer durables and realty each lost around 1.4%.
Maruti Suzuki led the large-cap falls, sliding 4.4% after reporting weaker August sales. The company sold 2,19,220 vehicles last month, down roughly 9% from July’s 2,41,421. Oil kept rising. Brent moved above $92 a barrel as fresh fighting between the United States and Iran again raised the possibility of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
WTI had already jumped 2.8% in the previous session. Sustained high crude quickly feeds into the import bill, inflation and corporate margins.
The rupee, however, strengthened for a third consecutive session, closing at ₹94.95 against the dollar, supported by inflows and Reserve Bank intervention.
Breadth remained weak. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks declined, and India VIX rose 2% to 11.42. IT and FMCG stocks provided the main cushion, each gaining about 0.9%. Reliance Industries rose roughly 2.5% and ITC more than 4%, preventing a steeper fall in the benchmarks. Domestic data offered little help on the day.
The economy grew 7.8% in the April-June quarter, its strongest performance in several quarters, yet higher oil prices and global rate concerns dominated trading.
By the close the Nifty had held just above 24,000 and the Sensex remained below 77,000. Banking and auto selling set the tone; defensive stocks merely limited the damage.
