Indian equity indices ended marginally lower for the second consecutive session on September 1 amid volatility, as buying in FMCG, IT, media stocks was offset by selling across auto, banking, pharma and realty names.

The market opened largely flat, while buying during the initial hour helped the Nifty touch an intraday high of 24,143.15. However, selling pressure intensified in the afternoon session, erasing the gains and dragging the index to an intraday low of 23,952.55, however, managed to close above 24,000 level after the closing auction session (CAS).

At close, the Sensex was down 12.99 points or 0.02 percent at 76,944.28, and the Nifty was down 24.60 points or 0.10 percent at 24,055.80.

The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices, with Nifty midcap index falling 1.4 percent and smallcap index down 0.2 percent.

Biggest Nifty lower were Shriram Finance, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, Interglobe Aviation, Max Healthcare, while gainers included ITC, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, ONGC.

Sector-wise, Nifty Pharma fell 1.5%, followed by Nifty Consumer Durables lower 1.4%, Nifty Realty declined 1.4%, while Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank dropped 1.2% each. Nifty Bank slipped 1%, while Nifty Private Bank fell 0.9%. On the gaining side, Nifty FMCG and Nifty IT rose 0.9% each, while Nifty Infra, Media, oil & gas  up 0.3% each.

More than 160 stocks touched 52-week high including Engineers India, Sai Life Sciences, HEG, Ather Energy, Bajaj Auto, Welspun Living, Ipca Labs, Bosch, Aurobindo Pharma, Oracle Fin Services, Leela Palaces, among others. 

On the other hand, Alok Industries, Inox Wind, Godrej Consumer, JK Lakshmi Cement, HDFC Bank, PI Industries, Swan Corp, HUL, Dabur India, Rail Vikas Nigam, IRFC, P&G Hygiene, Emami, UTI AMC, IRCTC, hit 52-week low.

Among individual stocks, Steel Strips Wheels shares jumped 15% after the company reported its highest-ever monthly net turnover in August 2026, while InterGlobe Aviation declined 2.4% following a hike in ATF prices. Milky Mist Dairy Food gained 10% after reporting a 10-fold jump in consolidated profit, whereas EPL fell 8% after a block deal involving 24.5 lakh shares.

LEAP India shares declined 4% despite a 30.3% YoY increase in consolidated profit, while Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri surged 20% after GRT Jewellers India agreed to acquire a 74.12% stake in the company. Happiest Minds slipped 12% after promoters agreed to sell their stake to ITC Infotech. Religare Enterprises gained more than 3% after Ashish Dhawan raised his stake to over 7%.

NLC India gained nearly 2% after entering into a joint venture with the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA), while PVR INOX rose 2% after its board approved a proposal for a share buyback. Sakar Healthcare share price zoomed 12 % after getting 14 oncology product approvals. Texmaco Rail and Engineering shares added 4% on winning international order of USD 135 million.

The Indian rupee ended 22 paise higher at 94.95 per dollar, compared with the previous close of 95.17.