The Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- extended its losing streak to a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, amid elevated crude oil prices and fading hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in West Asia after the US-Iran ceasefire expired without a fresh agreement. Index made a negative start and remained under pressure throughout the session, as traders remained cautious amid selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs were net sellers in the Indian equity market, offloading shares worth Rs 2,535.10 crore on August 17, 2026. During the Closing Auction Session, the index extended its losses to finish near the day's low. Sentiment remained downbeat as India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to slow to 6.8 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY27), compared with 7.6 per cent in the previous year.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Media, Auto and Healthcare stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, Realty, and PSU Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Tube Investments of India, Bosch and Multi Commodity Exchange of India. On the other hand, the top losers were SBI Cards and Payment Services, Inox Wind and Oberoi Realty. 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.
