More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

---

Equity Alert: Mkt opens higher on positive global cues; banks, IT lead gains 

 

MUMBAI--0938 IST--Indices opened higher Thursday, with the Nifty 50 ending a seven-session losing streak. Indian equities took support from positive global cues. Asian markets opened higher, while US indices ended higher following a sharp decline in US Treasury yields. The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy minutes indicated a possible rate hike if inflationary pressures persist. Information technology and banking shares led the gains. At 0935 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24197.85, up 119.55 or 0.6%, and the BSE Sensex was at 77430.76, up 521.08 points or 0.7%. 

 

Eternal was the top gainer in the Nifty 50, up over 2%. Financial services stocks Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, Jio Financial Services, and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1-2%. Information technology majors Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, and Tata Consultancy Services rose around 1-2%. Heavyweight banking stocks HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank rose nearly 1?ch. Meanwhile, Hindalco Industries was the worst performer in the index, down 2%. State-owned energy companies Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Coal India, and NTPC fell around 1?ch. Max Healthcare Institute was down nearly 1%.   

 

Barring Nifty Energy and Nifty Oil & Gas, which fell 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively, all other sectoral indices rose. Nifty IT, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Private Bank gained around 1%. All broader market indices were higher, with Nifty midcap indices up 0.6?ch and Nifty smallcap indices rising 0.8?ch.

 

In the Nifty 200, Swiggy was the top gainer, up over 4%. Muthoot Finance, Coforge, Avenue Supermarts, Tata Elxsi, and Hindustan Zinc gained around 2?ch. Oil explorers Oil India and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. were the worst-performing stocks, down nearly 2%. Power Finance Corp. and REC fell about 2?ch. In the Nifty 500, MMTC was the best performer, up over 7%. Chennai Petroleum Corp. was the biggest laggard in the Nifty 500, down nearly 4%.  (Adhithya Aji)

---

Equity Alert: Indices seen opening higher on supportive global cues

 

MUMBAI--0833 IST--Equity indices are expected to start higher amid supportive global cues. Most Asian markets opened higher, while US indices ended higher on Wednesday. The sharp fall in US Treasury yields is supporting positive sentiment in global markets. However, the West Asia war remains an overhang amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the prospects of a peace deal. US President Donald Trump also announced additional economic sanctions on Iran. 

 

On Wednesday, the Nifty 50 ended at 24078.30, down 76.60 points or 0.3%, and the BSE Sensex ended at 76909.68, down 325.78 points or 0.4%. The Nifty ended lower for the seventh consecutive session, and Sensex ended lower for the fourth consecutive session.  

 

The immediate support for the Nifty 50 is around 24000, according to Vipin Kumar, assistant vice-president of research at Globe Capital Market. "Going forward, a decisive break and sustained trading below 24000 could drag the index towards 23800, followed by 23600 in the immediate near term," Kumar said. The resistance for the 50-stock index is seen at 24250, he added. Kumar is of the view that the Nifty 50 is likely to open on a positive note Thursday.

 

The US Treasury Department announced a debt buyback operation to support Treasury yields, which rose to new highs over the week. The department said it will double the size of government debt repurchases, CNBC reported. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell more than 6 basis points to settle at 4.690?ter the move. On Tuesday, the 10-year US Treasury yield had hit an over one-year high of 4.7520%. 

 

On the war front, US President Donald Trump announced a "crushing economic operation" against Iran amidst the uncertainty over reaching a peace deal. Trump warned that any country which supports Iran will face heavy economic retaliation, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier, Trump said that peace talks with Iran will happen "maybe at some point", and he added that "right now, the situation is good," the report said.  (Adhithya Aji)

---

Equity Alert: Asian mkts open up amid easing bond yields; Kospi leads gains

 

MUMBAI--0815 IST--Most Asian indices opened higher during early trade on Thursday tracking gains in their US counterparts amid easing yields on global government bonds after the US treasury department announced it would increase its repurchases of long-term debt. South Korea's Kospi outperformed its peers by a wide margin during early trade. Among other gainers, Japan's Nikkei 225 and broader-market Topix rose nearly 1?ch, as did Hong Kong's Hang Seng.

 

Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics rose 8% and SK Hynix rose nearly 13% during early trade, driving the gains in the benchmark Kospi. SK Hynix announced it would buy back nearly $28 billion of its shares in a bid to calm investors concerned about the sustainability of artificial intelligence focused spending.

 

In Japan, data released by the country's finance ministry showed exports rose over 23% on year in July, outperforming the expectation of a 19.9% jump, according to economists polled by Reuters. Both the Nikkei 225 and Topix were up nearly 1% during early trade. Elsewhere, the People's Bank of China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for a 15th consecutive month in August. Policymakers held off on further monetary easing despite signs of weakness in domestic demand.

 

The following are the levels of key indices in the region at 0815 IST: 

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Nikkei 225 Day	65982.49	1.0
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	4048.72	0.9
S&P/ASX 200 Index	9077.1	0.3
KOSPI Index	6848.49	5.8
Hang Seng Index	25665.75	0.7
CSI 300 Index	4596.19	0.2
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5668.63	(-)0.5

 

(Shruti Nair)

---

 

Equity Alert: US indices end higher; US Treasury announces increased buyback

 

MUMBAI--0713 IST--All three major US indices ended higher on Wednesday for the first time this week after the US Department of the Treasury announced increased buybacks of long-term debt over the coming few months. Following this, bond yields, which had risen sharply earlier, eased. All three major indices ended 0.2% higher.

 

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said it would at least double the size of its government debt repurchases. "This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury's desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants," according to the department's statement. Subsequently, the yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond, which had touched a new 19-year high on the previous day, declined more than 10 basis points to 5.184%, CNBC reported. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped more than 6 basis points to 4.637%.

 

Among the top performers in Wednesday's session, Moderna shares nearly tripled, recording their biggest-ever one-day gain, according to a CNBC report. The gains followed news that an experimental skin cancer vaccine developed with Merck showed promising results in a late-stage trial. Merck shares ended nearly 13% higher, supporting the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. Shares of semiconductor company Marvell Technology ended nearly 10% higher after it announced a deal with Google under which Alphabet, Google's parent, could purchase up to $12.2 billion worth of shares in the chipmaker.

 

However, stocks of other technology companies slid after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had disclosed disappointing June-quarter results to its investors. The company's revenues grew 18% sequentially to $6.7 billion, but its losses deepened, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Shares of semiconductor companies Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices ended about 4% lower.

 

Following are the closing levels of major US indices Wednesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	53463.05	0.2
NASDAQ Composite	26331.09	0.2
S&P 500	7707.98	0.2

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 95.75

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

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

NSE: National Stock Exchange
NYSE: New York Stock Exchange
NYMEX: New York Mercantile Exchange
SEBI: Securities and Exchange Board of India
RBI: Reserve Bank of India

Internet links:
Securities and Exchange Board of India - http://www.sebi.gov.in
Bombay Stock Exchange - http://www.bseindia.com
National Stock Exchange of India - http://www.nseindia.com
Directory of Indian government websites - http://goidirectory.nic.in
Indian Ministry of Finance - http://www.finmin.nic.in
Reserve Bank of India - http://rbi.org.in
Controller General of Accounts, Government of India - http://www.cga.nic.in
Government's Press Information Bureau - http://www.pib.nic.in

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.