Benchmarks continued to trade lacklustre above the neutral lines in late afternoon session as investors took a cautious stance ahead US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium, which could provide some cues on Fed’s interest rate trajectory. Meanwhile, capital outflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) weighed on market risk sentiments. FIIs were the net sellers on Thursday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 298.26 crore.
Sensex was trading with gains of quarter a percent supported by strong buying among IT and Banking counters, while weakness in paints and FMGC stocks capped the gains. Meanwhile, Nifty was trading just above the neutral line weighed by selling among NBFC, Metals and Insurance sector stocks.
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed as market participant sought clarity over whether talks between Iran and Qatar might open the Strait of Hormuz and reduce supply disruptions from the Middle East war. European equity markets were trading higher after Euro Area Consumer Confidence improved for the fourth consecutive month in August.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77133.08, up by 199.49 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 76988.22 and 77357.97. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.93%, TECK up by 1.87%, Bankex up by 0.93%, Healthcare up by 0.46% and Metal up by 0.37%, while FMCG down by 0.47%, Auto down by 0.36%, Consumer Durables down by 0.35%, Realty down by 0.35% and Power down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.60%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.79%, Infosys up by 2.72%, HCL Technologies up by 1.93% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.44%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.35%, ICICI Bank down by 1.31%, ITC down by 0.82% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.73% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India’s private corporate sector entered FY27 on a stronger footing, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data report has shown a marked acceleration in sales growth during the first quarter (Q1) of 2026-27. Aggregate sales of listed private non-financial companies grew 19.4 per cent y-o-y in Q1:2026-27, up sharply from 13.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
According to the report, the manufacturing sector remained a key growth engine, with sales of 1,827 listed private manufacturing companies expanding 21.4 per cent y-o-y during Q1:2026-27, up from 14.5 per cent in the previous quarter. This acceleration was majorly driven by the automobiles, petroleum and electrical machinery industries.
Further, the report noted that sales growth of Information Technology (IT) companies strengthened further and recorded a double-digit growth of 14.8 per cent y-o-y during Q1:2026-27 from 9.9 per cent in the previous quarter, while non-IT services companies continued to record a healthy double-digit growth of 19.7 per cent in Q1 as against 20.3 per cent in the previous quarter, mainly driven by wholesale and retail trade industry.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24120.20, up by 29.35 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 24076.85 and 24188.30. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 3.82%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.78%, Wipro up by 2.57%, Infosys up by 2.40% and HCL Technologies up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.44%, ITC down by 1.43%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.32%, Shriram Finance down by 1.31% and ICICI Bank down by 1.27% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 179.02 points or 0.27% to 66,311.00, Taiwan Weighted added 356.23 points or 0.77% to 46,331.45 and Jakarta Composite gained 0.09 points or 0% to 6,521.84, while Hang Seng declined 1.74 points or 0.01% to 25,564.00, KOSPI dropped 123.49 points or 1.82% to 6,788.88, Straits Times fell 4.58 points or 0.08% to 5,679.54 and Shanghai Composite weakened 4.39 points or 0.11% to 3,952.18.
European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 24.44 points or 0.23% to 10,816.98, France’s CAC rose 88.53 points or 1.06% to 8,408.40 and Germany’s DAX gained 157.36 points or 0.6% to 26,524.60.
