Sensex gains 383 pts; media shares advance

The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in the early afternoon trade, tracking positive cues from Asian markets as the recent rally in crude oil prices paused. Investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve?s policy meeting later today. The Nifty surged above the 23,250 mark, indicating some recovery in market sentiment. Media shares rebounded after tumbling in the past trading session.

At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 383.44 points or 0.52% to 74,387.26. The Nifty 50 index added 144.35 points or 0.63% to 23,259.45.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.04% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 0.21%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,698 shares rose and 2,403 shares fell. A total of 233 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will roll out a targeted Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) regime effective 15 October 2026, ending a years-long blanket zero-MDR policy to build a self-sustaining funding base for network infrastructure, cybersecurity, and platform scalability.

Under the new guidelines notified by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Reserve Bank of India, a standard 0.4% MDR?capped at Rs 300 for high-ticket purchases?will apply strictly to commercial person-to-merchant (P2M) payments above Rs 2,000, while essential utilities and fuel will draw a flat Rs 5 fee and capital market transfers are levied at 0.02%. Retail consumers and individual peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers remain entirely insulated from charges, as do small merchants processing under Rs 1 lakh a month and all transactions up to Rs 2,000, which together account for over 95% of daily UPI transaction volumes.

India?s current account deficit widened to $11.2 billion during April-July 2026 from $6.6 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier, mainly due to a higher merchandise trade deficit. The goods trade gap increased to $117.8 billion in the first four months of the financial year from $97.1 billion a year ago, as imports grew faster than exports. Meanwhile, net services receipts rose to $69.3 billion from $64.3 billion in April-July 2025.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 2.47% to 13.10. The Nifty 29 September 2026 futures were trading at 23,300.20, at a premium of 40.75 points as compared with the spot at 23,259.45.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 September 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 97.5 lakh contracts at the 24,000 strike price. A maximum put OI of 69.2 lakh contracts was seen at the 23,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 1.53% to 1,526.90. The index fell 2.17% in the past trading session.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 4.7%), PVR Inox (up 2.55%), Prime Focus (up 2.54%), Saregama India (up 1.96%), D B Corp (up 1.52%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 0.81%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 0.6%), Tips Music (up 0.13%) rose.

Stocks in Spotlight:

R R Kabel rose 2.21% after the company announced the commencement of commercial production at its new manufacturing unit in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

Park Medi World fell 1.50%. The company said that it has entered into a long-term operations and management (O&M) arrangement to operate and manage a 300-bed multi-super speciality hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News