The Nifty 50 index has recorded muted daily moves for 25 straight sessions, the longest such run this year. The benchmark fell to its lowest close since July, missing out on regional gains as oil prices hover near $100 a barrel. While Asian equities turned positive, elevated crude and monetary policy risks continue to weigh on Indian stocks. The index remains trapped within a 1% range, with analysts watching the 23,500-23,600 zone for support.

Jio IPO set to add to wave of mega offerings. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms plans to start pitching what could be one of India's largest IPOs to investors as early as next week. The firm is targeting a November launch, with the offer potentially raising as much as $4 billion. A listing of that scale would further energize India's busy equity capital market, which is preparing for several large offerings. NSE recently received SEBI's approval for an IPO expected to launch later this month and raise about $3 billion.

Passive money is embracing the closing auction. India's new closing auction has raised concerns over sharp price swings, yet early signs suggest the day-end mechanism works when it matters most. Trades worth more than 400 billion rupees were executed during the 20-minute window when MSCI Inc. rebalanced its indexes on Aug. 31. Similarly, on Friday, estimates suggest 30 billion rupees of Swiggy's shares changed hands as the food-delivery company was removed from MSCI measures. This signals passive funds and institutional investors are willing to execute large trades during the auction.

India needs manufacturing boost. Bank of America economists say India needs to sharply accelerate manufacturing growth to meet long-standing ambitions. Production-linked incentives have delivered early successes, notably in iPhone production and exports. Dixon Technologies is growing into higher-value aerospace and defense segments. However, once-hot manufacturing stocks have lagged recently amid high valuations and competition concerns. The RBI is struggling to reduce excess cash in the banking system, temporarily absorbing 6 trillion rupees through reverse repo auctions on Monday.