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Informist, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026

 

By Arundathi A R

 

MUMBAI – With the war in West Asia remaining unresolved and crude oil prices edging higher, the equity market had a negative start to the week with the headline indices falling slightly. The Nifty 50 declined for the fifth straight session. It has fallen over 1% in this period. The expiry of the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran to end the war, with no progress in peace talks between the two belligerents, worsened market sentiment. Investors offloaded shares of information technology stocks the most while buying realty and metal stocks.

 

The memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war between the US and Iran expired Monday with little sign that either side was willing to extend the agreement, which both sides have accused the other of violating, Al Jazeera reported. "We have not yet made a decision to restart negotiations with the United States," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying, citing his Telegram post Saturday.

 

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz came to a near halt over the weekend ahead of the expiry of the 60-day memorandum of understanding, according to CNBC. Only five cargo ships passed through the critical passage Saturday, CNBC reported, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters. At 1454 IST, the October futures contract of Brent crude oil was up almost 1% at $89.28 a barrel. The Brent crude oil October contract has risen nearly 7% in the past seven days. The commodity's current price is up nearly 23% from the pre-war level.

 

At the end of the continuous trading session at 1515 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24339.80 points, down 0.1% from Friday. The BSE Sensex was at 77844.43 points, down 0.2%. After the closing auction session, the Nifty 50 ended at 24287.65, down 78.35 points or 0.3%. This was over 52 points lower than the 1515 IST level. The Sensex ended at 77728.16, down 281.09 points or 0.4%.

 

The broader market indices outperformed their benchmark peers and ended marginally higher. Sectoral indices showed mixed performance with most settling higher. The Nifty IT declined the most among sectoral indices, down nearly 2%. All constituents of the index ended lower with HCL Technologies being the major drag, down nearly 3%. The 50-stock index was mostly dragged down by IT stocks.

 

"Geopolitical concerns are very high, like crude (oil) prices are inching up and US (Treasury) yields are remaining high, which is causing pressure on IT stocks," Sumit Pokharna, vice-president of research at Kotak Securities, said. Other IT majors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services ended over 2% lower. Tech Mahindra and Wipro settled over 1% lower.

 

The Nifty FMCG index fell nearly 1% to be the second-biggest loser among sectoral indices. Nestle India fell the most among fast-moving consumer goods stocks, down almost 2%. Shares of ITC also declined nearly 2%. The sectoral index fell for the second straight session.

 

Among the major losers in the Nifty 200 index, Voltas fell over 4%. Shares of the company fell despite a 52% year-on-year jump in net profit for the June quarter. Analysts expect the company to face margin pressure in the near term. LG Electronics India was also down almost 4%.

 

Schneider Electric Infrastructure had the biggest fall in the Nifty 500 index, down over 11%. The stock was down for the third straight session. The shares fell after the company's June quarter net profit fell 70% on year. Belrise Industries was down nearly 8% while NMDC Steel fell over 6%.

 

Metal companies Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel were the major gainers in the 50-stock index, up 2% and over 1%, respectively. The Nifty Metal index was up over 1% among sectoral indices while Nifty Realty gained 1.5%. Oberoi Realty was among the major gainers in the Nifty 200, up nearly 5%. In the Nifty 500, IPCA Laboratories and Hindustan Copper were the top performers, up over 8?ch.

 

Shares of Dhoot Transmission were listed on the National Stock Exchange Monday at a premium of nearly 38% from the issue price of INR 871. Molbio Diagnostics was also listed on both exchanges at a premium of more than 21% to its issue price.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 18 rose, 31 fell, 1 was unchanged

* Of the Sensex stocks, 7 rose, 23 fell

* On the NSE, 1,683 stocks rose, 1,825 fell, and 115 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,090 stocks rose, 2,352 fell, and 238 were unchanged
* Nifty IT: down 1.8%; Nifty FMCG: down 1.1%; Nifty Realty: up 1.5%

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BSE                                             NSE

Sensex: 77728.16, down 281.09 points or 0.4%    Nifty 50: 24287.65, down 78.35 points, or 0.3%

 

S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 71947.55 (Mar. 30)	: 2026 Closing Low: 22331.40 (Mar. 30)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 71545.81 (Apr. 1)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 22182.55 (Apr.2)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 95.6025

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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