📉 Why the Sensex and Nifty split on Monday

Good morning.

On Monday, India's two big stock indices closed the day disagreeing with each other more than usual - and a quiet rule change is the likely reason.

But first, a story about finding your way back. Let's get into it.

When Shailza Singhal was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, some days getting out of bed was the whole achievement. 

During recovery, a friend showed her a brochure of birds found in her own neighbourhood, and one question stuck: do all these birds really live around us?

So, she started stepping out each morning with a camera. Those hours - watching a sunbird, waiting for a kingfisher - became her way back. 

Her photos now win national and international awards. The camera did not cure her, she says. It changed how she healed. Read her story →

☔ Rain check
Heavy rain across several states this week. See the live forecast →

What happened?
Both indices closed higher on Monday, but the gap was unusual - the Nifty 50 jumped 1.6% to 24,774, while the Sensex rose just 0.7% to 78,639. On most days, the two move almost in step.

What changed?
The same day, exchanges rolled out a new way of setting the official closing price for stocks with F&O contracts. Earlier, the closing price was an average of all trades between 3:00 and 3:30 pm. Now, normal trading ends at 3:15 pm, and a 20-minute Closing Auction Session lets buyers and sellers place orders - the price where the most shares can trade becomes the close.

Why it matters? 
The closing price does real work - it decides daily profit and loss across the F&O market. 

The new auction system is meant to make that price reflect actual demand and supply, rather than a late-afternoon average. Exchanges have not confirmed whether the new mechanism caused Monday's Nifty-Sensex gap, but the timing lined up. Read More →

Scroll to the end for the answer

🌊 Assam Floods

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🛢️ Energy: ONGC will reserve half of its new oil storage for India's strategic reserves - a buffer against future supply shocks.

🚗 Auto: The government has issued a draft notification for phased V2V communication systems - vehicle-to-vehicle tech that could make Indian roads safer.

🥃 Consumer: India has barred the sale of several popular whisky and rum brands over substandard flavouring. Check before your next pour.

🐆 Wildlife: Four snow leopards tracked in Nepal have crossed into India and China - a reminder that conservation cannot stop at borders.

🛕 Culture: Vrindavan's Chandrodaya Mandir is hosting a Braj Heritage Fest - a celebration of the region's spiritual and artistic traditions.