The Indian equity indices opened flat today, after being in a downward swing for eight consecutive sessions, following US President Donald Trump's announcement of a steep hike in H-1B visa fees on September 19. Investors would be closely tracking the RBI Governor Sajay Malhotra-led Monetary Policy Committee’s decisions on further rate cuts and policy stance today. 

The BSE Sensex was up by 55 points or 0.07%, at 80,322, while the NSE Nifty50 was marginally up by 0.13%, rising 33 points. 

Shriram Finance was on top of the leaderboard, soaring by 2.82%, with its shares trading at ₹633.50 apiece. Sun Pharmaceuticals and Mahindra and Mahindra followed, rising by 2.18% and 1.15%, respectively. 

Emerging as the top laggard was Bharat Electronics, declining by 0.83%, with HDFC Life right behind, dipping by 0.81%. Other losers in today’s trade were SBI Life and Eternal, each down by 0.72% and 0.68% respectively. 

Amongst sectoral indices, all traded positively, except Nifty IT, which was down by 0.09%. Nifty Media rebounded by 1.69%, after declining yesterday, when Trump announced new 100% tariffs on foreign films. PVR INOX and Prime Focus had declined by 5% in yesterday’s trade. Nazara rallied by 5%, and Sun TV by 4%, adding support to the media index’s rise today. Nifty Realty and Nifty Pharma were also top performers, each advancing by around 1.25%. 

Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services are trading marginally upwards, advancing 0.37% and 0.25% respectively, showcasing investors’ caution before the RBI policy announcement. 

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices in early trade, with Nifty Midcap50 and Nifty Smallcap50 rising by 0.62% and 0.45%. India VIX, or the volatility index, has further cooled down by 1.22% from yesterday’s session, now standing at 10.53. 

On the Nifty50 front, 37 stocks advanced, and 13 declined, whereas on the Sensex index, 22 stocks were gainers, and the remaining eight were losers. On the NSE, out of 2,688 stocks traded, 1,972 advanced, 639 declined, and 77 remained unchanged. Out of the 3,302 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,263 gained, 890 declined, and 149 were unchanged.