Benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday, September 3, 2026, recovering from the previous session’s losses, supported by sustained institutional buying and positive global cues.
The opened at 76,724.95, against its previous close of 76,570.35, and was trading at 76,745.72, up 175.37 points or 0.23 per cent, as of 9.19 am. The opened at 23,997.95, against its previous close of 23,914.45, and was trading at 23,975.35, up 60.90 points or 0.25 per cent.
The positive open follows a weak Wednesday session in which the Nifty fell 141 points and the Sensex dropped 374 points, weighed down by rising crude oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty stemming from US-Iran tensions. Selling was concentrated in the IT and auto sectors, while energy stocks provided some support.
Despite Wednesday’s decline, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased ₹6,688 crore worth of Indian equities, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) added ₹2,813 crore, a combined inflow of nearly ₹9,501 crore. It was the second consecutive session of simultaneous buying by both groups.
Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, pointed to the FCNR(B) mobilisation as a key development: “The $127 billion mobilised under the FCNR(B) scheme has come way above the consensus estimates. The implication of this from the market perspective is that the rupee will stabilise, imparting confidence to FIIs.” He added that “it is obvious that the brunt of the selling came from retail investors, proprietary traders and bears who used the market weakness to hammer the stocks down. This is likely to reverse today.”
Gainers and losers
On the Nifty 50, banking stocks dominated the gainers list. Axis Bank rose 1.11 per cent to ₹1,267.80, opening at ₹1,265.00 with a high of ₹1,271.00. Adani Ports gained 1.08 per cent to ₹1,690.70. ICICI Bank advanced 0.96 per cent to ₹1,440.20, while SBI rose 0.86 per cent to ₹1,029.70. HDFC Life Insurance added 0.89 per cent, trading at ₹537.75.
Vijayakumar noted that the large FCNR(B) mobilisation by banks “will help improve their NIMs. This is positive for banking stocks.”
Technology stocks continued to face selling pressure. Tech Mahindra fell the most, down 1.19 per cent to ₹1,603.70 after opening at ₹1,623.00. HCL Technologies dropped 1.03 per cent to ₹1,317.80. TCS declined 0.75 per cent to ₹2,330.30, and Infosys fell 0.62 per cent to ₹1,132.90. The Nifty IT index had declined around 1.5 per cent in the previous session.
IndiGo was also among the top losers, falling 0.89 per cent to ₹4,975.50 from a previous close of ₹5,020.00, reflecting the pressure on aviation stocks from elevated crude oil prices.
Brent crude remained elevated near $95 per barrel, with US crude inventories falling 4.45 million barrels, well above market expectations, reinforcing supply tightness. The US 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.8 per cent, keeping inflationary concerns in focus ahead of Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report.
Wall Street recovered overnight, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq each gaining around 0.5-0.6 per cent, led by technology stocks. Asian markets were broadly in the green. GIFT Nifty was trading around 24,093, up 128 points, ahead of the domestic open.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, cautioned that “the market has been breaking important support levels with relatively little effort, which is a matter of concern.” He identified 23,800 on the Nifty and 76,100 on the Sensex as crucial levels for Thursday’s session, adding that …”a sustained move above 24,100/77,200 could trigger a recovery towards 24,200–24,250.”
Market participants will watch crude oil prices, geopolitical developments, and institutional flow data through the session for further direction.