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Key gauges trade mixed in morning deals
Aug-26-2026

Indian equity benchmarks traded mixed in morning deals, despite a sharp decline in crude oil prices and easing geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. There was some cautiousness as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said that Infrastructure projects costing over Rs 150 crore each have collectively reported cost overruns of around Rs 3,40,504 crore. However, traders took some support with former Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V Subramanian's statement that India can build a $55 trillion economy by 2047 by capitalising on its young demographic in artificial intelligence and dominating key sunrise sectors.

The BSE Sensex gave up most of their early gains but managed to keep its heads above water in morning deals led by gains in Banking, Healthcare and Basic Materials stocks. In contrast, the Nifty 50 was trading marginally lower amid profit-taking at higher levels and selling in IT shares. Among the Nifty constituents, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Ultratech Cement emerged as the top gainers, while Bharti Airtel and Infosys were the key laggards. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid sinking crude oil prices and lower treasury yields as traders see the U.S. move to isolate Iran economically in lieu of military strikes as a sign for easing of Middle East tensions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77708.83, up by 52.74 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 77701.18 and 77986.84. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.60%, Healthcare up by 0.57%, Basic Materials up by 0.51%, Utilities up by 0.47% and PSU up by 0.36%, while TECK down by 0.57%, Telecom down by 0.54%, Consumer Durables down by 0.32%, Industrials down by 0.12% and IT down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.31%, Eternal up by 1.43%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.32%, ICICI Bank up by 1.21% and State Bank of India up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.41%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.93%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.69%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.57% and Tata Steel down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its monthly report for July 2026 has said that Infrastructure projects costing over Rs 150 crore each have collectively reported cost overruns of around Rs 3,40,504 crore. A total of 1,775 ongoing infrastructure projects across 17 Central Ministries/ Departments were monitored and it was found that the total revised cost was Rs 37,10,642 crore compared to their original cost of Rs 33,70,138 crore.

However, the report did not specify the actual number of projects that faced cost overrun. The cumulative expenditure incurred on these projects stands at Rs 19.26 lakh crore, accounting for around 51.91 per cent of the revised project cost, indicating steady progress in project implementation.

A substantial share of projects is at advanced stages, with 675 projects (38 per cent) achieving over 80 per cent physical progress, while 305 (17 per cent) have crossed 80 per cent financial completion. It stated 1,775 ongoing infrastructure projects include 735 Mega projects (project cost of Rs 1,000 crore & above) with an original cost of Rs 28.77 lakh crore, and 1,040 Major projects (project cost below Rs 1,000 crore and up to Rs 150 crore) amounting to Rs 4.93 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24304.60, down by 29.95 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 24294.25 and 24378.60. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.12%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.09%, ICICI Bank up by 1.05%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.97% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.42%, Infosys down by 1.37%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.22%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.19% and Nestle India down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 529.57 points or 0.8% to 66,386.00, Taiwan Weighted added 670 points or 1.48% to 45,839.46, Shanghai Composite strengthened 23.51 points or 0.6% to 3,912.95, KOSPI increased 117.12 points or 1.74% to 6,859.86 and Hang Seng advanced 196.9 points or 0.77% to 25,708.00. 

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 6.02 points or 0.1% to 5,729.66 and Jakarta Composite plunged 4.41 points or 0.07% to 6,497.26.   
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