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Informist, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium 

MUMBAI – The benchmark indices closed sharply divergent Thursday after being largely in alignment since Monday. The Nifty 50 was weighed down by metal stocks and index heavyweights. The fall in the index mirrored the movement in its Asian peers, with traders globally worrying about higher crude oil prices. The weekly options contract of the Sensex expired Thursday and the 30-stock index was volatile for most of the session. Real estate companies saw buying interest, as did some fast-moving consumer goods companies.

Thursday, the Nifty 50 remained in the red throughout the session and settled at 24395.85, down 40.10 points or 0.2%. The index slipped below the crucial support of 24400 points and could not recover. Analysts have said before that a fall below this threshold could see the 50-stock index falling to 24200 points. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex ended at 78079.96, up 113.61 points or 0.2%. Traders were most active on call and put contracts at the 78000-point strike price expiring next week, followed by contracts at the 77800 strike. The changes in open interest were, however, thin. Premiums ranged between INR 284 and INR 654.

Earlier in the day, global index provider MSCI added Adani Energy Solutions, Billionbrains Garage Ventures, Laurus Labs, and Lenskart Solutions to its global standard index as part of its August index review, removing Astral, Balkrishna Industries, and SBI Cards and Payments Services. Following the reshuffle, the number of Indian constituents in the key MSCI index will rise to 166 from 165. The changes will be implemented after the close of trading on Aug. 31, and take effect on Sept. 1, MSCI said.  More