| The key equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in mid-morning trade supported by positive global cues. After a challenging start to September, domestic equities showed signs of stabilisation as investors assessed global macroeconomic developments and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. The Nifty traded above the 23,950 mark, while market sentiment remained cautious ahead of key US economic data. Investors are closely awaiting the US nonfarm payrolls report, due later today, for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy trajectory and the outlook for interest rates.
In addition to developments surrounding the US-Iran conflict and movements in crude oil and gold prices, market participants will closely track the upcoming quarterly earnings announcements of recently listed companies over the next few weeks. Investors are likely to assess these results for insights into operating performance, earnings visibility and demand trends.
The oil & gas shares jumped after declining in the past trading session.
At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 669.31 points or 0.88% to 76,822.17. The Nifty 50 index jumped 105.95 points or 0.46% to 23,984.50.
In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.26% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.54%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,521 shares rose and 1,506 shares fell. A total of 261 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
SEBI said it will review the methodology for determining settlement prices of derivative contracts on expiry following feedback received after the introduction of the Closing Auction Session (CAS) in the equity cash segment from 3 August 2026. The regulator said the CAS-determined closing price also serves as the basis for settling derivative contracts on expiry. After monitoring the mechanism during its first month and receiving feedback from stock exchanges, brokers, traders, mutual funds, FPIs and other market participants, SEBI said it may propose changes to the settlement-price methodology and plans to issue a consultation paper in about a week.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index 11,215.10. The index declined 0.13% in the past trading session.
Indraprastha Gas (up 3.9%), Reliance Industries (up 1.8%), Mahanagar Gas (up 1.75%), Aegis Vopak Terminals (up 0.89%), Castrol India (up 0.79%), Petronet LNG (up 0.54%), Adani Total Gas (up 0.47%) surged.
Stocks in Spotlight|:
Tata Chemicals fell 1.90% after media reports said Kenyan President William Ruto had ordered Tata Chemicals to stop operations in the country. The reports raised concerns over Tata Chemicals' soda ash operations in Magadi, home to Africa's largest soda ash producer and an important contributor to Kenya's economy.
Global Market:
Asian stocks traded mostly higher on Friday, 4 September 2026, following a strong rally on Wall Street as US Treasury yields eased and expectations of a September Federal Reserve rate hike moderated.
Chinese artificial intelligence stocks rose on Friday after OpenAI launched its latest model, GPT-6 Astra, which investors viewed as a positive read-through for the country's AI developers. MiniMax gained 6.5%, Baidu 4.6%, Kuaishou Technology 4.2%, JD.com 4.1% and Xiaomi 3.9%, while Z.AI edged higher. The gains extended a recent rally in Chinese AI stocks as investors assessed the commercial potential of faster advances in large language models and more autonomous AI-agent services.
US equities rallied sharply on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.18% to 53,686.11, the S&P 500 gaining 1.06% to 7,747.71 and the Nasdaq Composite advancing 1.40% to 26,584.06. Technology stocks led the gains, with Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Nvidia among the major advancers. Snowflake surged 16.6% after its results, lifting the broader software segment.
Market sentiment improved after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would support keeping the federal funds rate unchanged if upcoming data confirms that inflationary pressures are easing. Following his comments, the probability of a September rate hike fell to around 50% from 63.2% on Wednesday, according to CME FedWatch. The US 10-year Treasury yield also retreated for a second consecutive session.
Attention has now shifted to the US nonfarm payrolls report due later on Friday. The data could influence expectations for the Fed's September 15-16 policy meeting.
Oil prices remain a key risk for global markets. Brent crude was around $95.7 a barrel on Friday and is headed for a weekly gain of about 7%, as continued US-Iran tensions raised concerns over disruptions to energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. |