After opening the day lower, the benchmark indices continued their downward momentum, ended the session in the red.

Indian equity markets indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower today after the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5%.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 166 points (down 0.2%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed 75 points lower (down 0.3%).

Asian Paints, M&M, Bharat Elec among the top gainers today.

Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at  24,632, lower by 107 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended 1% lower, and the BSE SmallCap index ended 1.1% lower.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed today, with stocks in the oil & gas sector and the IT sector witnessing selling pressure. Meanwhile, stocks in the auto sector and the power sector witnessed buying.

The rupee is trading at Rs 87.7 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.6% lower at Rs 100,710 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 0.4% lower at Rs 113,055 per 1 kg.
 

Bharti Hexacom Q1 Profit Drops Sharply

In the news from the telecommunication sector, shares of Bharti Hexacom slipped 4% after the company posted its Q1 FY26 results.

EBITDA came in at Rs 11.6 billion (bn), down slightly from Rs 11.7 bn in Q4 FY25, while revenue decreased by 1.1% to Rs 22.6 bn.

The company's operating margin increased from 51% QoQ to 51.3% despite the softening of the profit and top line.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) increased from Rs 2.1 bn in Q1 FY26 to Rs 2.5 bn in Q1 FY26, demonstrating the mobile services segment's ongoing growth.

77% of all mobile customers are smartphone data users, up 0.3 million sequentially and 1.6 million annually.

With an average monthly usage of 29.4 GB per customer, data consumption also demonstrated strength, rising 23.8% YoY.

With 54,000 net customer additions during the quarter, the homes and office business saw steady growth and helped the segment's revenues increase 38% year over year.

To improve coverage in both rural and urban areas, the company reported that it has installed 518 additional towers in the past year.

Bharti Hexacom's Q1 FY26 net profit fell 16.4% to Rs 3.9 bn from Rs 4.7 bn in the previous quarter.
 

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Shares Jump on Q1 Profit

Moving on to the news from the chemical sector, shares of Gujarat Fluorochemical surged 7% after the company posted its Q1 FY26 results.

From April to June, its operating revenue increased by 9% to Rs 12.8 bn from Rs 11.7 bn during the same period last year.

The company's EBITDA increased 31% to Rs 3.4 bn, and its operating profit margin improved by 460 basis points (bps) to 26.85%, indicating strong operational performance.

The chemical segment was the primary driver of growth during the quarter, as EBITDA increased 33% year-over-year (YoY) to Rs 3.5 bn. YoY, margins increased by 495 basis points to 28%.

The net profit for the chemical segment increased by 69% year-over-year to Rs 1.9 bn.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals' Q1 FY26 net profit surged 70% to Rs 1.8 bn from Rs 1.1 bn in the same quarter last year.

Higher volumes and a better product mix, along with new orders in the semiconductor, aerospace, and automotive sectors, helped Gujarat Fluorochemicals' fluoropolymer business reach its highest quarterly revenue of Rs 7.9 bn, up 16% year over year.
 

Bajaj Auto Q1 Profit Rises, Margin Dips

Moving on to the news from the auto sector, shares of Bajaj Auto came in focus after the company reported its Q1 FY26 results.

Operating revenue for Bajaj Auto increased 5.5% to Rs 125.8 bn from Rs 119.3 bn the previous year.

EBITDA was Rs 24.2 bn, but margins dropped to a multi-quarter low of 19.7% from 20.3% year over year.

Bajaj Auto's strong Q1 results were driven by higher exports and price hikes. With 4.76 lakh units exported, premium motorcycles, commercial vehicles, and Chetak scooters led the 16% increase in export volumes year over year.

5.29 lakh two-wheelers were sold domestically, a 9% decrease from the same time last year.

With both domestic and international markets included, the company sold 11.11 lakh units overall, representing a slight 1% YoY increase.

Bajaj Auto reported a 5.4% rise in net profit to Rs 20.9 bn in Q1 compared to Rs 19.8 bn in the same quarter last year.

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