NSE's long-awaited debut arrives as India's options trading boom cools. After more than three decades hosting stock-market debuts, the National Stock Exchange of India will finally ring its own listing bell today — ironically at arch-rival BSE. NSE chief Ashish Kumar Chauhan, former BSE CEO, now experiences hospitality from the other side. The mood is hardly celebratory; gray-market prices suggest a gain of only 2%-3% above the 1,785 rupee IPO price, indicating a subdued first-day pop.

September is on track to set a record for IPO fundraising in India, with 45 firms raising about 353 billion rupees and another 13 expected to raise 70 billion rupees by month-end, totaling roughly 423 billion rupees. This eclipses October 2024's record of 403 billion rupees. Meanwhile, global markets reacted to Wednesday's sharp oil price advance, with Asian stocks and bonds down tracking Wall Street losses after stronger-than-expected US economic data fueled rate-hike bets. RBI Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta offered a bright spot, noting the rupee has room to appreciate from current levels amid recent weakness.

UBS sees India's next credit upswing driven by unsecured loans, particularly personal loans, with banks and NBFCs well-positioned to lend. Elara notes domestic mutual fund investors are increasingly chasing momentum, with mid- and small-cap funds taking record fresh money shares while large-cap funds see redemptions, though investor captures have not matched fund returns.