ECONOMY | PAGE 2 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Indiaatrusteddestination forglobalinvestment:FM INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 India now inAI production phase: Puneet Chandok MUMBAI, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026 Gloria Steinem, longtime face offeminism, dies WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 210, 62 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 76,152.86 ▼ 417.49 NIFTY: 23,873.45 ▼ 41.00 NIKKEI 225: 64,214.48 ▼ 111.16 HANG SENG: 25,213.31 ▼ 97.90 `/$: 94.49 ▲ 0.48 `/€: 109.66 ▲ 0.24 BRENT: $96.16 ▲ $0.53 GOLD: `1,53,167 ▲ `3,043 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 3 GOYAL:TARIFF ADVANTAGE MUST FOR BTAWITH US INDIA IS HOLDING out for a clear tariff advantage over its competitors in the US market before signing off on the proposed bilateral trade agreement with Washington, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, reports Mukesh Jagota. India stallsAlipay+ payments link over security concerns ALIPAY+'S PROPOSALTO link with India's instant payments system for cross-border transactions has been stalled due to national security concerns in New Delhi, three sources said. ■ PAGE 6 August bulk, block deals highest in 26 months BULK & BLOCK deals surged to `98,353 crore inAugust, the highest in over two years, as the expiry of lock-in for recently listed firms and a recovery in sentiment paved way for large shareholders to pare stakes, reports Kushan Shah. ■ PAGE 6 RECORD `10L-CR SURPLUS PULLS OVERNIGHTRATES BELOW5% RBI meets bankers as liquidityglutdeepens FE BUREAU Mumbai, September 3 THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI)mettoplendersonThursday todiscussliquiditymanagement aftermeasurestomobilisedollars led to larger-than-expected inflows,accordingtosourcesclose tothedevelopment.Themeeting comes as surplus liquidityin the bankingsystemhassurged,pushing overnight borrowing costs significantly below the RBI’s policyrate. At the meeting,lenders proposed using foreign exchange sell-buyswapstograduallydrain excess rupee liquidity from the banking system, Reuters reported,citing sources familiar withthediscussions. Buoyed by the RBI’s special foreignexchangeswapwindows that drew a much larger-thanexpected$136.4billion,thesurplus in the banking system liquidity surged to a record `9.70 lakh crore on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high of `9.21 lakh crore recorded on September5,2021. Continued on Page 7 »INSIDE« SBI MOPS UP NEARLY $10 BN VIA FCNR (B) PAGE 6 CASH MANAGEMENT ■ The banking system liquidity ■ The RBI surged to a record announced VRRR auctions totalling `9.70 lakh crore `53.5 on Wednesday, surpassing the lakh crore previous high of `9.21 lakh crore recorded on September 5, 2021 ■ Kotak Mahindra Bank expects durable liquidity to peak at around `12 lakh crore ■ Analysts expect in September ■ For banks, abundant liquidity between Aug 6 & Sept 2 to absorb excess liquidity could support stronger loan growth RBI to initially rely on shorter-term instruments to manage liquidity FCNR inflows support bonds,rupee THE YIELDS ON the shorter maturitygovernment bonds have eased while the rupee appreciated to its strongest level in two months following a stronger-thanexpected inflows into FCNR (B) deposits, reports Christina Titus. Theyield on fiveyeargovernment bond rallied as much as 11 basis points on Thursday before settling at 6.52%, down five bps from the previous close. The yield on 10-year benchmark bond closed two bps down at 6.95%. “The five-year segment rallied today (Thursday) due to significant liquidity from FCNR (B) inflows,prompting heavy buying.Initially,market interpreted the large inflow as a signal of further demand for 5-year paper,” said Rajeev Pawar, treasury head, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. The Indian rupee, meanwhile rose to 94.27 before settling at 94.49,up 48 paise from the previous close.Over the past oneweek,the Indian currency has appreciated 1.1%. Currencytradersandanalystsexpecttherupeetotrade in a range-bound going ahead. “We have seen inflows of around $136 billion, which supported the rupee.Some of the intra-day gains were pared back as traders covered short positions,” said Dilip Parmer, research analyst, HDFC Securities. PAGE 6 Sensex sees 4,000 pts swing in two minutes ● Closing auction session completes one month KUSHAN SHAH & KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, September 3 BSE’S WEEKLY DERIVATIVES expiry triggered another bout of extreme volatility during the closing auction session (CAS) on Thursday with the Sensex’s indicative closing level plunging more than 2,100 points before staging an equally sharp recovery. In all, it swung by almost 4,000 points (3,900 point) in two minutes. The indicative Sensex level tumbled from 76,510 at 3:18 pm to 74,373 at 3:20 pm — a fall of 2,137 points — before recovering by 1,800 points. Continued on Page 7 HUGE VOLATILITY Sensex Sept 3 ,2026 77,200 76,527.11 76,400 76,152.86 76,554.2 75,600 3:19 pm 74,800 74,373.29 74,000 3:20 pm 3:00 pm »INSIDE« 3:30 pm EDITORIAL: CAS NEEDS A RESET PAGE 8 Sebimayreviewmethodology THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi)saidonThursdaythatit is considering changes to the CASmechanismafterreviewing feedback from market participants on operational issues,particularlythe determinationofsettlementprices for derivative contracts on expiry days. “…Sebi may be proposing certain changes in the methodology for determinationofsettlementprices of derivative contracts for which a consultation paper will be issued in about a week,” the regulatorsaid. QUICK PICKS Services PMI rises in Aug as demand strengthens Carrefour eyes smaller stores in India INDIA’S SERVICE SECTOR saw slight recovery in August as demand conditions remained supportive and new business inflows rose. While output and sales growth strengthened from July, the pace of expansion in activity was slowest in over four years, S&P Global said. The HSBC India services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 53.3 in July to 54.1 in August, reports Shubham Rana. ■ PAGE 2 FRENCH RETAIL GIANT Carrefour plans to take smaller, limited-SKU stores to tier-2 and tier-3 cities as it expands its presence in India over the next five years, moving beyond the large-format stores that are anchoring its return to the market. The retailer, which exited India in 2014, has returned with a 50,000 sq ft hypermarket in Greater Noida (West), reports Ashutosh Mishra. ■ PAGE 4
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