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Informist, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices open higher on fall in crude oil prices; banks rise

 

MUMBAI--0937 IST--Indices opened higher amid a fall in crude oil prices due to the Iran-Oman talks that sparked renewed hopes of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Banking stocks were the major gainers while metal companies underperformed. At 0941 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24361.95, up 27.40 points or 0.1%, and the BSE Sensex was at 77930.10, up 274.01 points or 0.4%. 

 

Heavyweight ICICI Bank was the top gainer among the Nifty 50 constituents and was up over 1%. SBI Life Insurance Co. and Asian Paints rose over 1?ch. InterGlobe Aviation gained nearly 1%. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation and Asian Paints gained due to a fall in the crude oil prices. A fall in energy prices is likely to offset the impact on the airline's margins. On other hand, Asian Paints use crude oil as a key raw material to make their products.

 

Banking stocks State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Jio Financial Services, and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose nearly 1?ch. UltraTech Cement was up nearly 1%. On the other hand, Shriram Finance fell nearly 2% and was the worst hit stock in the Nifty 50. Infosys, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, Bharti Airtel, Max Healthcare Institute, and Cipla fell around 1?ch. 

 

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty PSU Bank was the top gainer, up nearly 2%. On other hand, Nifty Metal was the major laggard, down 0.4%. All the broader market indices were higher--Nifty Midcap indices were up 0.3-0.4% and the Nifty Smallcap indices were up 0.3-0.5%.

 

Hindustan Zinc was the top gainer among the Nifty 200 constituents and was up nearly 4%. LIC Housing Finance, Union Bank of India, and Mankind Pharma was up 2-3%. On other hand, Billionbrains Garage Ventures was the worst hit stock in Nifty 200, down over 3%. Varun Beverages and Bharat Dynamics fell nearly 3% and 2%, respectively. Oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petrolueum Corp., and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. rose around 1?ch. The downstream oil companies rose due to a fall in crude oil prices.  

 

In the Nifty 500, Sagility was the top gainer and was up nearly 6%. Shares of Cyient rose nearly 5?ter some brokerages upgraded the target price on the stock after the company's investor day. Welspun Corp was the major laggard in the index and was down 5%.  (Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: Macquarie upgrades Jubilant Food to neutral, ups price aim 39%

 

MUMBAI--0858 IST--Global brokerage Macquarie has turned constructive on domestic quick-service restaurant companies with channel checks suggesting better same-store sales growth in the September quarter compared with the June quarter, NDTV Profit reported citing the brokerage. The brokerage upgraded Jubilant Foodworks to "neutral" from "underperform" and increased its target price by around 39% to INR 520 per share. Macquarie also raised the target prices of other quick-service restaurant stocks by 40–50%.   

 

The brokerage expects dine-in led demand recovery and operating leverage gains to drive over 20% compounded annual growth rate in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation between 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) and FY29 across the segmental players. While the brokerage sees continued earnings per share volatility from Domino's Turkey for Jubilant Foodworks, it has a constructive outlook for Popeye's and expects recovery in India like-for-like sales. 

 

Macquarie prefers Devyani International, Sapphire Foods over Westlife Foodworld, and Jubilant Foodworks in the domestic quick-service restaurant space given the strength of the KFC and McDonald's formats, the report said. The brokerage raised its target price on Devyani International by over 46% to INR 190, Westlife Foodworld by 40% to INR 730, and Sapphire Foods by 50% to INR 300 while maintaining an "outperform" call on all three. The brokerage sees a potential turnaround in Pizza Hut format post merger of Yum franchisees as a tailwind to Devyani International's earnings per share. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: Asian indices up on fall in crude oil prices, US bond yields

 

MUMBAI--0850 IST--Major Asian indices were up at open as a sharp fall in crude oil prices and yields on US Treasury bonds helped investor sentiments. Iran said it held talks with Oman Tuesday to manage the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, adding to positive market sentiments. Investors also await Nvidia's June quarter earnings, which will be out later in the day.

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index outperformed its peers and was up 1%. Index heavyweights Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group rose more than 1%. Mainland China's CSI 300 index was up nearly 1%, while South Korea's benchmark Kospi and Japan's Nikkei were up 0.5% and 0.2% respectively.

 

The talks between Iran and Oman came as Tehran faces new economic pressures from the US, according to a Reuters report. Crude oil prices fell for a third time Wednesday and were around $86 per barrel on hopes of the Strait reopening. The fall in crude oil prices eased fears over inflation, which led to a fall in yields of US Treasury bonds, with the 10-year note yield down nearly 7 basis points. 

 

"While there was no real progress or details of the Iran-Oman deal, as Iran reiterated that Hormuz will remain shut until conditions are met, price action suggested that markets are quickly pricing in optimism around an interim announcement," analysts at JPMorgan told CNBC.

 

Besides its quarterly earnings, investors will focus on the massive spending on artifivial intelligence and whether it is sustainable and can make profits, according to a report on CNBC. "Nvidia is approaching the point where beating expectations is expected, so the headline numbers alone may not determine the market reaction," CNBC quoted Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore as saying.

 

Following are the levels of major Asian indices at 0807 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Nikkei 225 Day	65999.67	0.2
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	4111.29	0.4
S&P/ASX 200 Index	9172.00	0.1
KOSPI Index	6776.62	0.5
Hang Seng Index	25755.15	1.0
CSI 300 Index	4583.76	0.7
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5712.78	(-)0.4

 

(Vidhi Thacker)

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Equity Alert: Mkt to open higher as crude oil prices fall on Iran-Oman talks

 

MUMBAI--0836 IST--Indices are expected to open on a positive note as talks between Iran and Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have sparked renewed hopes of the reopening of the key waterway. Crude oil prices traded below $90 per barrel. Global market sentiment was largely positive, with headline indices in Asia opening higher following a positive close to Wall Street benchmarks Tuesday.

 

Iran said it has resumed talks with Oman to manage the Strait of Hormuz after the US imposed new economic sanctions on Tehran. Both Iran and Oman have been in talks earlier to control the Strait, Reuters reported. "However, any agreement between these two parties does not mean we will see normalisation in oil flows through the key chokepoint," ING Research said. "We would likely need to see the US lift its blockade on Iranian ports and ease sanctions on Iran before we see any move towards normalisation." At 0829 IST, the August futures of Brent crude oil were down nearly 3% at $86.15 per barrel.

 

If the Nifty 50 index holds above 24320 points, it will likely move towards 24450-24480, while a fall below 24250 could lead the index to consolidate in the near term, said Vipin Kumar, senior technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market. "The benchmark Nifty index breached its past six days long congestion range of 300-points (24026–24313 spot zone) on the higher side in the last second tick," Kumar said.

 

On the stocks front, Nuvama Institutional Equities has downgraded watchmaker Titan Co.'s shares to "hold" after a sharp rise in the stock price. The stock gained over 1% in the last seven days and 5% over a month. Tuesday, the stock ended nearly 1% higher at INR 5,124.80. (Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: US indices end higher Tue on fall in oil prices, Treasury ylds

 

MUMBAI--0730 IST--Major US indices closed higher Tuesday as oil prices fell and yields on treasury bonds contracted for the second day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained the most among the indices as chip stocks recovered from a selloff ahead of Nvidia's June quarter results due later in the day. Yields on the 10-year treasury note shrunk more than 7 basis points to 4.625%. 

 

The Nasdaq Composite closed nearly 1% higher, while the broader market S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended around 0.3% higher each. Shares of Nvidia ended more than 2% higher, after a seven-day decline. Shares of peer chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology ended nearly 5.0% and 2.5% higher, respectively. Shares of Meta closed almost 2% higher, adding further support to the Nasdaq. 

 

Consumer stocks ended notably lower. Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods plummeted after a disappointing quarterly result and ended around 31% lower. Sportswear company Nike's shares ended more than 3% down. Retail stocks like Walmart and Target were also down under pressure, ending around 1% and 4% lower, respectively. A survey showed that US consumer confidence in August was down to its lowest level in seven months, according to a Reuters report.

 

Investor sentiment was down on trade conflict between the US and Canada, after the latter announced retaliatory tariffs against the former. The Canadian government said that they will match the 50% levies that the US President Donald Trump imposed over the weekend, a CNBC report said. Investors will wait for the personal consumption expenditure price index reading for the month of July due later in the day. 

 

Following are the closing levels of major US indices on Tuesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	53577.40	0.3
NASDAQ Composite	26151.30	0.7
S&P 500	7677.28	0.3

 

(Vidhi Thacker)

 

US$1 = INR 95.41

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

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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.

 

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