Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended flat with negative bias on Thursday owing to escalating geopolitical jitters between US and Iran, sparking a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Index made a positive start driven by strong buying in IT and Media stocks. Besides, market participants took support with the Reserve Bank of India’s preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP) showing that India recorded a current account (net) surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026, compared with a deficit of $4.1 billion in the corresponding period last year, mainly aided by higher inward remittances from abroad and a rise in services exports. However, in afternoon session, market erased most of its gains and traded near neutral line on account of profit booking at higher level. Finally, Nifty ended lower, with a cut of around 6 points.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Consumer Durables, Chemicals and Media stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty PSU Bank, Realty and Reits & Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were ABB India, Dixon Technologies (India) and Indian Energy Exchange. On the other hand, the top losers were ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, HDFC Asset Management Company and Nuvama Wealth Management. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 2.92% and reached 12.88. The 50 share Nifty down by 5.75 point or 0.02% to settle at 24,072.75.
Nifty July 2026 futures closed at 24103.70 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 30.95 points over spot closing of 24072.75, while Nifty August 2026 futures ended at 24197