Indian equity benchmarks extended their decline for
the third day, with Sensex and Nifty ending with heavy losses of over one and a
half percent on Friday, amid an overall bearish trend in global markets after
the Fed announced a widely-expected rate hike and reiterated its commitment to
keep up increases into 2023 to fight red-hot inflation.

Markets started the session on a pessimistic note
and extended their fall later on after ASSOCHAM said India Inc is bracing
itself for yet another policy rate hike by the RBI Monetary Policy Committee in
the range of 35-50 basis points as the move seems unavoidable in the wake of
the global monetary tightening to limit the impact of inflation.

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The Nifty50 has fallen sharply after forming an
indecisive candle on the daily chart, sinking below a crucial short-term moving
average, according to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

“Momentum oscillator appears to be in a
bearish crossover on the daily timeframe. The trend looks negative, which may
take the Nifty towards 17,000 over the short term. On the higher end, it has
resistance at 17,500,” he said.

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Indian Indices

The Sensex fell 1080.80 points or 1.73% to
58,098.92 while the Nifty was down by 302.45 points or 1.72% to 17,327.35 at
the close of trading on Friday. The Sensex moved in a high and low band of
59,143.32 and 57,981.95. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks
declining on the index. The Nifty traded in a range of 17,642.15 and 17,291.65.
There were 5 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

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Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE
mid-cap index down by 2.28% and the Small cap index down by 1.92%. The top
losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 3.48%, Power down by
3.40%, Realty down by 2.97%, Financial Services down by 2.56%, and Bankex down
by 2.50%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

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India VIX Index

Nifty or India VIX, a gauge of the market’s
expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 9.45% to 20.59 on Friday.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening
for the index in India with a 117-point loss. The Nifty futures were trading at
17,215.0 on the Singaporean Exchange at around 6.31 hours IST.

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Support and Resistance levels

The key support level for the Nifty is placed at
17,199, followed by 17,070. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to
watch out for are 17,549 and 17,771, according to pivot charts.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 64.76 points, or 1.72%, to
3,693.23.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 486.27
points, or 1.62%, to 29,590.41.

The Nasdaq composite fell 198.88 points, or 1.80%,
to 10,867.93.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell
42.72 points, or 2.48%, to 1,679.59.

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Asian Markets

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday. The
Hang Seng fell 1.18%, the KOSPI Composite fell 1.81% and the Shanghai Composite
rose 0.66%.

European Markets

European markets ended mostly in red on Friday.
Germany’s DAX was down by 1.97%, France’s CAC 40 was down by 2.28% and London’s
FTSE was down by 1.97%.

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Major Headlines

BPCL signs pact with Brazil’s
Petrobras to diversify crude oil sourcing

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Limited Corporation
Ltd (BPCL) has signed an agreement with Brazilian national oil company
Petrobras to help it diversify its crude oil sourcing for energy security in
India. The firm gets a majority of its supplies from west Asian nations such as
Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

“The signing of the MoU will strengthen future
crude oil trade relations between the two companies and explore potential crude
import opportunities by BPCL, on a long-term basis, especially considering the
current geopolitical situations,” BPCL said in a statement.

Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), the upstream
oil and gas exploration and production subsidiary of BPCL, plans to invest $1.6
billion to develop an oil block in Brazil. BPRL holds a stake in an ultra-deepwater
hydrocarbon block in Brazil, owned and operated by Petrobras.

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Ambuja Cements shares put on NSE
watchlist after Adani-driven surge

Shares of India’s second-largest cement maker have
been put on a short-term watchlist after they surged more than 40% following
Adani Group’s acquisition of the company in May.

Ambuja Cements was added to the Additional
Surveillance Mechanism, which the bourse uses to “alert and advice investors to
be extra cautious while dealing in these securities,” according to the National
Stock Exchange of India’s website. Adani acquired a controlling stake in Ambuja
and ACC Ltd from Swiss firm Holcim for $6.5 billion. Stocks on the list tend to
witness selling pressure as they undergo extra scrutiny for up to 15 trading
sessions and face higher margin rates.

Bulk Deal data

Upendra Kumar bought 42,000 shares in Destiny
Logistics & I Limited at Rs 19.39 per share on the Nse.

Niraj Rajnikant Shah bought 64,227 shares in Dec
Info Technology Limited at Rs 217.34 per share on the Nse.

Dhiman Bhavya sold 99,200 shares in Ishan
International Limited at Rs 79.32 per share on the Nse.

Bhavishya Ecommerce Private Limited sold 79,552
shares in Kshitij Polyline Limited at Rs 114.95 per share on the Nse.

Jinendra Kumar Jain bought 54,000 shares in Mega
Flex Plastics Limited at Rs 57.21 per share on the Nse.

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DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold
shares worth a net Rs 2,899.68 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors
(DIIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 299.10 crore on September 23, as per
provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

Vodafone Idea and Zee Entertainment Enterprises
have been placed under the F&O ban for September 26. Securities in the ban
period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has
crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.