More Stories

Informist, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

 

By Arundathi A R 

 

MUMBAI – Analysts expect domestic equity indices to move in a range next week as well amid higher crude oil prices. The Nifty 50 index, which recovered Thursday after a seven-day fall, was largely stuck in a range Friday. Crude oil prices were at $93 a barrel level.

 

In the latest development on the global front, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Washington would impose the "toughest sanctions in history" to "collapse" the Iranian government, calling on other nations, including China, to join the effort, Al Jazeera reported. Meanwhile, China criticised US President Donald Trump's "economic D-Day" push against Iran, warning additional sanctions would fail to resolve ongoing disputes. Iran's foreign ministry has condemned the US threat of new economic sanctions and called the proposed measures "illegal and inhumane," according to the report.

 

At the end of the continuous trading session on exchanges at 1515 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24234.75 points, flat from Thursday. The BSE Sensex was at 77522.47 points, also flat from the previous close. After the closing auction session, the Nifty 50 ended at 24252, up 20.15 points or 0.1%. The Sensex ended at 77540.83, up 3.11 points from Thursday.

 

"The underlying trend of Nifty is positive and there is a chance of further upside towards 24500-24600 levels by next week," Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities, said in a note. "Immediate support is placed at 24100."

 

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian equities for the second straight session Thursday, acquiring shares worth INR 4.08 billion. Domestic investors purchased INR 39.74 billion of shares, their seventh consecutive session of buying.

 

"The pace of FII (foreign investors) selling has continued to moderate, with weekly data showing foreign investors turning net buyers on equal instances over the last two months – a clear signal of reviving institutional interest in Indian equities," Ashwini Shami, president and chief portfolio manager at OmniScience Capital, said in a note.

 

Multinational brokerage JPMorgan has initiated coverage on some gold financiers with an "overweight" rating, according to a post on X by CNBC-TV18. The brokerage has set the target price for IIFL Finance at INR 750 per share. Shares of IIFL Finance ended nearly 7% higher Friday.

 

The Indian rupee settled at 95.6950 againsst a dollar Friday. "Higher crude prices are adding to India's import-cost and inflation concerns, keeping pressure on the domestic currency," Jateen Trivedi, commodity and currency research analyst at LKP Securities, said in a note. "The Dollar Index remained range-bound near 98.68, limiting additional downside pressure."  End

 

US$1 = INR 95.6950

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

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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.