India’s Capital Goods Index Falls Nearly 4% to 67,159.42 Points
Key Facts
The Bombay Stock Exchange Capital Goods Index fell nearly 4% to 67,159.42 points in trading on Friday, October 23, according to Business Standard. The index’s decline coincided with shares of ABB India and Hitachi Energy India each falling about 6%. Shares of CG Power and Industrial Solutions and BHEL also fell about 5% each, the newspaper reported. The losses thus extended across a group of equipment and energy companies listed in India. The market move came alongside data showing an improvement in overall business activity, but a slight slowdown in the manufacturing index.
The HSBC flash composite business activity index rose to 56.7 in October, from September’s final reading of 55.9, exceeding the median Reuters poll forecast of 56.1. Reuters said the reading pointed to business activity accelerating to a four-month high. By contrast, the flash manufacturing index slipped to 54.9 from 55.1 the previous month. The services index rose to 56.2 from 55.2, making services the stronger driver of the composite improvement. The divergence between manufacturing and services puts capital-goods shares’ move in the context of an economy showing different signals from month to month.
Companies surveyed said input cost inflation slowed to its lowest level in about a year. Selling price increases were also the weakest since March 2025, Reuters reported, citing the survey results. These indicators place price developments within the broader business activity picture, alongside October’s manufacturing slowdown. But they do not in themselves explain Friday’s share declines. The available source did not give a direct reason for the falls in ABB India and Hitachi Energy India or the other two shares.
EL7 data for the October 22 close show ABBNY ended the session at $83.3, compared with $91.05 on October 16. These prices are for the U.S.-listed ticker and do not represent ABB India’s share price on the Indian exchange. HTHIY closed at $36.83 on October 22, compared with $36.24 on October 16; it, too, is a U.S.-listed ticker. These figures reflect movements in the two U.S. tickers over the stated period, while the Indian shares of the companies fell about 6% in Friday’s trading. The distinction between markets and tickers matters when reading the prices, as U.S. ticker closing prices should not be treated as local share prices.
The latest industrial production data provide broader context on the sector’s performance: India’s industrial production index grew 8.0% year over year in August, compared with 6.7% in the July quick estimate. Manufacturing grew 9.0%, while electricity and gas supply rose 12.3% in the same month, according to data from India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation published through the Press Information Bureau. Within the index, capital goods output rose 16.9% year over year in August, and the index stood at 140.7. The figures show strong growth in the capital-goods category in August, before shares of sector companies fell in the October session. But they measure production in an earlier period and do not describe share performance in Friday’s trading.
India is scheduled to release its September industrial production index on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, according to the schedule published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The next reading will update the picture of output after annual growth of 8.0% in August. September’s data will also show the pace of capital-goods production following the 16.9% annual increase recorded in August. The release follows preliminary October data showing higher composite activity and a decline in the manufacturing index. The forthcoming industrial production result is the next milestone in tracking the sector’s performance after shares of related companies fell in Friday’s trading.