DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities: Monday close

Indian markets fell sharply on Monday. The Nifty 50 opened 75 points lower at 23,065 and never moved above Friday’s close. It reached a high of 23,080, fell to around 22,760 near 2:30 PM, and closed at 22,780.25. The close was 285 points below the opening level and 1.56% lower for the day.

The Sensex closed at 72,771.75, down 1,123.99 points or 1.5%. The Nifty finished at its lowest level since 2 April. Monday’s fall took the Nifty’s decline for the year to around 13%. The index also recorded a weekly change of -2.42% for the week to 28 September, after seven consecutive weeks of decline.

Broad market

The weakness was broad-based. All major market-cap segments fell on the day and were lower over the last 20 sessions. Midcaps had the weakest 20-session performance in the table, while microcaps had fallen the least.

Sector performance

All 15 sector indices fell. IT held up best with a decline of 0.26%, while PSU Banks fell the most at 3.24%. High-beta stocks, which usually move more than the broader market, performed much worse than low-volatility stocks.

Stocks: winners and losers

Financial stocks were prominent among the weakest F&O names. Manappuram Finance fell 6.3%, Yes Bank 5.9% and Bank of India 5.8%. Dixon Technologies led the gainers with a rise of 1.9%. Dr. Reddy’s, Indian Renewable and Bank of India traded at least twice their usual volume.

Tata Teleservices rose 5.05% on 26 times its usual volume. Indo-Mim recorded the biggest delivery spike, while Page Industries had the sharpest rise in implied volatility. NSE shares fell below their ₹1,785 IPO price on the third day of trading and slipped to ₹1,761.

For the first half of FY27, the Nifty Smallcap 250 rose 23% between April and September, compared with a 13% rise in the Nifty Midcap 150 and a 2% gain in the Nifty 50. This comparison uses data through 25 September.

Commodities and currency

Crude oil rose while precious and base metals were mostly weaker at the 19:54 IST snapshot. Brent crude traded around $104.6 per barrel on Monday night after touching $108.83. WTI rose more than 4% above $96 before easing below $95. A $1-per-barrel increase in oil prices that lasts for a year may add around ₹18,000 crore to India’s annual import bill.

Gold fell to around $4,150 an ounce, its lowest level since 5 August. The rupee closed 22 paise weaker at 95.97 per US dollar after crossing the 96 level for the second time in two weeks. It opened at 95.89, touched a low of 96.05 and a high of 95.87, compared with Friday’s close of 95.75.

The US 10-year Treasury yield stood at 5.2%, its highest level in 19 years. The RBI has net sold bonds worth ₹1 trillion this financial year, its largest annual net bond sale in more than a decade. The source report did not carry the Indian government bond yield for the session.

Institutional flows

Foreign investors sold around ₹3,600 crore of Indian equities on 28 September, while domestic institutions bought about ₹5,200 crore. FIIs remained heavily short in index futures, with only 12.2% of their positions on the long side.

Mutual fund flows remained strong. Small- and mid-cap schemes made up nearly half of the ₹29,328 crore of net equity mutual fund inflows in August. Small-cap funds received ₹7,973 crore and mid-cap funds ₹6,989 crore.

The macro view

Industrial output

India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production or IIP, grew 8.0% year-on-year in August. This was higher than the revised 7.4% growth in July and 4.7% a year earlier. It was also the second-highest IIP growth rate in 29 months.

Manufacturing carries a 76.062% weight in the IIP and has grown by at least 8% in each of the last three months. Eighteen of 23 manufacturing groups reported growth. Motor vehicles rose 25.2%, electrical equipment 30.9% and other transport equipment 25.3%. Growth for the five-month period was 6.7%.

Monetary policy and bonds

• The RBI has net sold ₹1 trillion of bonds this financial year. The previous record was ₹90,000 crore in FY18, based on RBI data available since FY15.
• Anand Rathi Global Finance treasury head Harsimran Sahni expects the RBI to sell another ₹1 trillion to ₹1.5 trillion of bonds in October and November.
• A majority of respondents in a Reuters poll expect a policy rate hike at the RBI meeting due on 7 October.
• Indian companies are preparing at least ₹29,000 crore, or $3.02 billion, of bond sales before the RBI decision. Issuers include Reliance Industries, Vedanta, Delhi International Airport, Adani Airport Holdings and JSW Energy.
• Foreign investors sold ₹4,730 crore of Indian government bonds on 11 September, the second-largest single-day sell-off in three years. The government accepted only 40% of a planned bond issue.
• The US Congressional Budget Office projects the US federal debt burden rising to 120% of GDP by 2036 from 101% currently.

Investment and fiscal policy

• Private investment fell to 10.3% of GDP in FY25 from 10.9% in FY23, based on a National Institute of Public Finance and Policy paper.
• New private-sector project announcements more than doubled to ₹104 trillion in FY24-FY26 from around ₹56 trillion in FY21-FY23.
• Renewable electricity project announcements rose to ₹22.3 trillion from ₹9.45 trillion. IT-enabled services, including data centres and GCCs, rose almost fivefold to ₹9.36 trillion.
• The Centre is preparing to seek Cabinet approval to extend around a dozen welfare and development schemes for five years through 2030-31 as interim extensions expire on 30 September.
• PM-KISAN has been approved for 2026-27 to 2030-31 with an outlay of ₹3.15 trillion.
• The CBDT extended the AY 2026-27 ITR deadline for tax-audit cases to 21 November from 31 October. The audit report deadline moved to 21 October from 30 September.

Energy, agriculture and trade

• India’s Russian crude imports fell to 1.74 million barrels per day in September, the lowest since April, from 2.02 million bpd in August. Overall crude imports rose to around 5.3 million bpd.
• Indian refiners expect Russian oil supply to tighten further in October and November.
• Jio-bp has capped diesel purchases at 50 litres per customer per day. Nayara Energy has set limits between 70 and 200 litres, and public-sector retailers are likely to follow.
• Air-conditioner prices could rise 5% to 8% from October. TVs, refrigerators and washing machines may become 3% to 4% more expensive.
• The Centre asked drought-hit states to rethink rabi crop plans. Cumulative monsoon rainfall was 755.7 mm from 1 June to 27 September, 12% below normal.
• Kharif sowing was 1.3% lower than a year earlier as of 18 September.
• The animal husbandry and dairying department launched a livestock insurance portal in 11 regional languages, besides Hindi and English.
• The UAE may invest another $25 billion in India in the near future. India and the UAE plan to double annual trade to $200 billion by 2032.
• The US will not apply ad valorem tariffs to certain speciality drugs for rare conditions imported from India and 19 other countries as it prepares a 100% tariff on certain patented pharmaceutical imports from 29 September.
• Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is travelling to the US from 29 September to 5 October for the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee and talks on an interim bilateral trade agreement.

Payments and regulation

• The Supreme Court declined to stay the Centre’s decision to levy a 0.4% merchant discount rate on person-to-merchant UPI payments of ₹2,000 or more. It asked the government for an affidavit explaining the legal basis.
• The levy begins on 15 October. It is capped at ₹300 on transactions of ₹75,000 or more. Person-to-person payments remain free.
• Delhi’s “No PUCC, No Fuel” rule begins on 1 October. Vehicles without a valid pollution certificate may be denied fuel at 500 petrol pumps.

Corporate action and earnings

Domestic headlines

Tata Sons

Tata Trusts, which owns 65.9% of Tata Sons, proposed merging Tata Electronics Systems Solutions and Tata Consulting Engineers into Tata Sons. The aim is to take the holding company out of the core investment company category without listing it. The combined company would have net assets of ₹2,00,158 crore, investments in group firms of ₹1,77,120 crore and operating revenue of ₹105,043 crore, compared with ₹40,072 crore of income from financial assets. The proposal follows the RBI’s 11 September rejection of Tata Sons’ earlier application to surrender its CIC registration.

Godrej Properties

The company entered a development agreement with Man Infraconstruction for a 2.5-acre luxury project at Marine Lines in south Mumbai. The project has revenue potential of around ₹6,000 crore and saleable area of about 600,000 sq ft. Man Infraconstruction will recover its existing ₹300 crore investment in the project.

Sun Pharma

Sun Pharma signed an exclusive agreement with LIB Therapeutics to manufacture and commercialise Lerodalcibep, a once-monthly cholesterol drug, outside the US and China. This gives Sun Pharma access to a $3.7 billion PCSK9 market.

Kalpataru Projects

Kalpataru Projects International received an EPC order for a gas pipeline project in the UAE worth more than ₹4,000 crore.

Tata Projects

Tata Projects partnered with Canada’s MDS Aero Support to develop aero-engine testing infrastructure in India.

Dr Lal PathLabs

Dr Lal PathLabs is buying 70% of SN Genelab for ₹168 crore, with another ₹31.5 crore payable if performance targets are met. SN Genelab had FY26 revenue of ₹58 crore.

Air India

Air India reported a consolidated FY26 loss of ₹22,238 crore, compared with ₹10,859 crore a year earlier. Revenue was ₹71,870 crore and expenses were ₹93,333 crore. Incoming CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told employees that the airline must improve both revenue and costs. His appointment still awaits Union home ministry clearance.

Mid-tier IT

LTM launched OneToken, Coforge launched AI Launchpad and Hexaware launched a Zero License offering as mid-tier IT companies package AI-led cost reductions for clients. Coforge ended FY26 with $1.87 billion of revenue, up 29.2%, while LTM had $4.76 billion, up 6%.

Electric buses

A television film producer, a solar company and a software company are among bidders for the latest PM E-Bus Sewa tender for more than 3,600 electric buses. The tender closed on 22 September. India sold 5,356 electric buses in FY26, up 37%.

Paint makers

Paint companies raised prices in stages by 12% to 14% between March and July. Asian Paints, Berger and Kansai shares are down 13% to 25% in 2026.

Reliance

Reliance Industries plans to raise up to ₹10,000 crore through asset-backed securities supported by rental receivables from group companies including Reliance Jio. The expected coupon is 8.35% to 8.40%.

Shapoorji Pallonji

SP Group unit Porteast Investment faces a ₹3,500 crore payment on debt raised in May 2025 and has asked to move the 30 September deadline to 31 October.

Adani

SEBI settled proceedings against four Adani Group companies and several directors, including Gautam S. Adani and Rajesh S. Adani, over alleged minimum public shareholding violations.

Legal

EY has taken its tax dispute over employees seconded to India to the Supreme Court, challenging a June 2026 Delhi High Court ruling that treated the payments as fees for technical services. Red Bull sued FSSAI in the Delhi High Court on 25 September over the ban on the “energy drink” description. The Supreme Court disposed of Fortis Healthcare’s petition against a court-ordered forensic audit, allowing the audit to continue, according to IHH Healthcare.

Investments

India-Japan platform Ideas N Journey is looking to deploy $100 million across consumer-focused real assets and healthcare in India.

TakeMe2Space

The Bengaluru company plans to launch its MOI-1A orbital computing satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission on 1 October. It has signed 23 customers.

Primary market

• NSE shares fell to ₹1,761, below the ₹1,785 IPO price, on the third day of trading.
• The IPO of Snapdeal parent AceVector, which is seeking a valuation of up to ₹1,741 crore at a ₹30-32 price band, was fully subscribed on day two. It closes on Tuesday and is expected to list from 5 October.
• Table Space Technologies’ ₹800 crore IPO faces a dispute over the stake of the late Amit Banerji. His wife, Shruti Banerji, wrote to SEBI on 29 August to challenge the classification of Sarita Banerji as a promoter.
• Mahindra Last Mile Mobility is exploring a $200 million listing in FY28. Porter has started preparing for a $300 million to $500 million IPO.

Upcoming events

Neither source carried a results calendar for this edition. For scheduled board meetings and results dates, the source recommends checking NSE and BSE corporate announcements or the Tijori App.

Global pulse

Global indices

Overseas markets were mixed in their latest session, with Hong Kong and Frankfurt higher and Shanghai the weakest.

Geopolitics and energy

• US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting. Iran said diplomacy remained the only way out.
• Iran continues to demand an easing of the US naval blockade and oil sanctions before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
• TD Economics estimates Canada could have 6.8 million barrels a day of oil takeaway capacity by 2034 if all major pipeline projects and expansions are completed.

Trade

• The US and China agreed to more favourable tariff treatment for $60 billion of bilateral trade. Each side recommended $30 billion of non-sensitive goods.
• The US proposal covers 77 product entries and China’s list contains 1,619 items. China’s commerce ministry said around 90% of covered products would receive most-favoured-nation treatment.
• Soya beans are not included in the tariff relief. Separately, Beijing has committed to buying 25 million tonnes a year from the US through 2028.
• The two countries extended their trade truce until January.

Global macro

• The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points in September.
• The US 10-year TIPS real yield rose to 2.653%, its highest since 2008. Japan’s 10-year yield reached 3.055%, its highest since 1996, and the Bank of Japan raised rates last week.
• China’s industrial profit growth slowed to 4.2% year-on-year in August from 11.2% in July. Electronics manufacturing profits were up 110% in the first eight months.
• Japan’s services producer prices rose 3.7% year-on-year in August, the fastest pace in more than two years.
• The dollar index was around 101.16, close to a two-month high and on track for a 1.7% monthly gain.

Global corporate

• Nvidia added $150 billion to its share-repurchase authorisation, taking remaining buyback capacity to $235 billion through fiscal 2028.
• Nvidia also introduced the Open Agent Safety Platform, designed to set boundaries for autonomous AI agents.
• OpenAI confirmed that its models accessed publicly available information from US government websites, including SEC.gov and Census.gov, during training and evaluation.
• Neither Sam Altman nor Dario Amodei will appear before an Australian Senate inquiry into an AI hack of a government website.
• Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed part of a revived consumer lawsuit against Apple and Amazon to proceed.
• A record 16 Indian men joined S&P 500 boards this year, according to ISS-Corporate and Equilar.

Management chatter

Feature: SEBI rewrites the PMS rulebook

IPOs, global stocks and a ₹25 lakh mutual fund route

At its 215th board meeting in Mumbai on 24 September, SEBI approved the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026, which will replace the 2020 framework. The new rules widen the investments portfolio managers can make for clients, introduce a ₹25 lakh route based entirely on direct mutual fund plans, create a structure for independent fund managers, and reduce compliance for smaller firms.

Why the rulebook was rewritten

SEBI set four goals for the review: develop the PMS industry, reduce compliance, put the rules into simpler language, and remove provisions that were no longer needed. The process began with a stakeholder survey through the Association of Portfolio Managers in India. SEBI then issued a consultation paper with draft regulations on 23 July 2026 and considered the public comments before taking the proposal to the board.

The rewritten regulations are 53% shorter. Registration and co-investment provisions that were scattered across the earlier rules are now placed under their relevant sections. General obligations have clearer references for benchmarking and valuation. Grandfathering and transition clauses have either been removed or given clear expiry dates.

A wider investment universe

Portfolio managers can now invest client money in IPOs and in primary-market debt issues. In discretionary PMS, up to 10% of a client’s AUM can be invested in investment-grade, non-convertible, unlisted debt securities if the client agrees. The limit for exchange-traded derivatives rises to 1.25 times the client’s AUM.

The regulations also open foreign markets. Discretionary and non-discretionary PMS can invest in listed foreign equity, debt, REITs, overseas mutual funds, ETFs, index funds and foreign government debt. These investments remain subject to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. Eligible Fund Managers may also manage and advise eligible investment funds investing overseas. If those funds invest in Indian securities, the limits remain aligned with the current FPI framework.

PRIM: A ₹25 lakh route into managed mutual fund portfolios

The Portfolio Managers Route for Investing in Mutual Fund units, or PRIM, allows a portfolio manager to invest client money in direct plans of Indian mutual funds. This includes ETFs, index funds and Specialised Investment Funds. A normal PMS account has a ₹50 lakh minimum. PRIM reduces the minimum ticket to ₹25 lakh.

An existing portfolio manager can offer PRIM as a separate investment approach. A new applicant that wants to operate only within the PRIM investment universe can also apply for a fresh registration under separate conditions.

PRIM portfolios can also hold SIFs. SIF assets crossed ₹31,000 crore in August 2026 after strong recent inflows.

Independent Fund Managers

The regulations create a new category called Independent Fund Managers, or IFMs. These managers can manage and operate client portfolios in association with a registered portfolio manager. SEBI attached several investor-protection conditions:

• Liability: The registered portfolio manager remains fully responsible and liable for everything the IFM does.
• Qualifications: The IFM must meet the same qualification, experience and certification requirements as a Principal Officer.
• Money and orders: Clients pay fees directly to the registered portfolio manager, and the IFM sends orders through the portfolio manager’s infrastructure.
• Affiliation: A portfolio manager may work with several IFMs, but an IFM can work with only one portfolio manager at a time.
• Client exit: Clients must be given an exit option if an IFM leaves or is terminated.
• Registry: APMI will maintain and update a central database of active IFMs.

Lighter compliance

• Principal Officer: A graduate can now qualify to serve as Principal Officer.
• Dealing room: Requirements are relaxed for portfolio managers with AUM below ₹100 crore. This group represents 48% of currently registered managers.
• Client agreement: A standardised Investment Management Agreement will include the authority to operate the client’s demat and trading accounts. The RBI-required power of attorney for bank accounts continues.
• Reporting: Timelines for material and non-material reporting are aligned. A digital disclosure document is intended to move more communication online.
• Costs: Statutory levies are excluded from the 0.5% annual operating-expense limit.

Can talent keep up?

The ability to invest overseas could create a new growth area for PMS firms, but it also increases the need for professionals who understand global markets. Few Indian funds currently invest abroad, and building teams that can work across countries, currencies, accounting systems and regulatory regimes will take time.

Sharan said managers will need people who can analyse companies across countries, understand different accounting and regulatory systems, and manage currency and asset-allocation risk.

Where the industry stands

Assets under PMS stood at ₹44.11 trillion as of July 2026. Of this, ₹31.9 trillion came from Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation mandates. The revamp is expected to help a segment that has faced pressure from newer products, while SIFs have emerged as a preferred option for high-net-worth investors.

Other board decisions affecting portfolio managers

• Accreditation: SEBI-registered portfolio managers, AIF managers and AMCs offering SIFs can now accredit investors directly. Individuals can also qualify based on securities-market exposure of at least ₹5 crore. The threshold is ₹20 crore for body corporates and other trusts. Non-residents are treated as accredited. Accreditation lasts three years and is portable across a group’s AIF, SIF and PMS products.
• Advertising: A Common Advertisement Code now applies to portfolio managers, brokers, advisers, research analysts and mutual funds. Brand-level celebrity promotion is allowed with prior approval. Other advertisements no longer need mandatory prior approval, but must be reported within three working days after issuance.

What happens next

The 24 September decision is a board approval of the proposed rules that will replace the 2020 PMS regulations. SEBI’s release does not give a start date for the new PMS rules. This differs from the settlement regulations approved at the same meeting, which take effect on the day after the 30th day from notification.

SEBI PR No. 59/2026; Mint; Outlook Money; Business Today

The day at a glance

Closing note

Market data: Zerodha AfterMarket Report, 28 September 2026 close; Mint, Mumbai edition, 29 September 2026. This is a news aggregation brief. Not investment advice.