Ashutosh Joshi in Mumbai reports the Nifty 50 fell for a 7th straight session, its longest losing run since September 2025, while the rupee declined for a third day amid RBI intervention. Crude oil gains and a post-earnings catalyst vacuum kept secondary-market investors cautious, though Asian equities rose after U.S. Treasury moves to curb long-term borrowing costs.

Regulatory focus intensified: SEBI is set to release a study on equity derivatives trading and banned a Mauritius-based JPMorgan unit for alleged manipulative trading in India's new auction-based price-discovery system. RBI minutes revealed one policymaker saw a case for a rate hike later this year, pressuring bonds.

In sharp contrast, new listings are sparkling. A gauge of recent BSE mainboard IPOs has climbed 16% to a record, outperforming the broader market by the most since 2021. All but two of the 17 companies that listed in the past month trade above their offer prices. Shiprocket and Behari Lal Engineering surged on their Wednesday debuts.

The pipeline is filling, with the anticipated IPO of the National Stock Exchange poised to test whether demand for new issues can sustain while the broader market remains weak.