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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Aug-26-2026

Indian equity benchmarks gave up their early gains and settled lower on Wednesday, despite a decline in crude oil prices and a positive trend in global markets. Investors remained cautious ahead of the release of US inflation data later in the day, which could offer fresh clues about the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate trajectory.

Both the Sensex and Nifty ended in negative territory, with the Nifty closing over half a percent lower, dragged down by selling in IT heavyweight stocks as investors remained cautious ahead of Nvidia’s earnings update. Meanwhile, buying interest in banking stocks failed to provide support to the markets.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India can achieve $55 trillion economy by 2047 by leveraging AI talent: Traders paid no head to the 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.

Goyal pitches India as key data centre hub: Traders also overlooked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal pitching India as a compelling destination for data centres, and said that the country can work with Japanese companies to develop the sector.

Domestic economy demonstrates notable resilience to ongoing global headwinds: Traders took note of report that the ‘State of the Economy’ article featured in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) August 2026 Bulletin stated that the global economy is confronting a fragile geopolitical environment and continuing trade-related uncertainties. Nevertheless, the domestic economy has demonstrated notable resilience to the ongoing global headwinds, characterised by buoyant domestic demand, and rising manufacturing and services activity.

On the global front: European markets were trading mostly in green, amid decline in global crude oil prices as well as an easing in sovereign bond yields in Europe. Asian markets ended mostly higher, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed hopes about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The BSE Sensex ended at 77472.94, down by 183.15 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 77472.94 and 77986.84. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.38%, Basic Materials up by 1.37%, Healthcare up by 0.42%, Bankex up by 0.40% and PSU up by 0.13%, while TECK down by 1.46%, Telecom down by 1.35%, IT down by 1.05%, Utilities down by 0.65% and Consumer Durables down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.53%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.87%, Axis Bank up by 1.33%, Tata Steel up by 1.10% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.94%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.91%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.76%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 1.48% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.38% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) has flagged concerns over Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) proposal to prohibit Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) from providing revolving credit. It noted that blanket ban on revolving credit by NBFCs will disrupt legitimate working-capital finance used by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Earlier this month, RBI issued 'Draft Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Credit Facilities) Amendment Directions, 2026', in which it proposed that NBFC shall only offer credit products which are in nature of term loans and shall not offer any revolving credit products. The central bank has sought stakeholders' feedback on the draft till August 28, 2026.

FISME Secretary General Anil Bhardwaj has said that the RBI's concern regarding indefinite rollovers, hidden borrower stress and harmful app-based lending is understandable. However, working capital for a productive enterprise is economically different from consumer revolving credit. He suggested that regulation should target the risk and conduct of a product, not eliminate a legitimate financing instrument merely because it is revolving. Further, FISME highlighted the importance of NBFC credit saying, ‘NBFCs play a critical role in serving enterprises, geographies, sectors and ticket sizes that are often not adequately served by banks’.

FISME has urged the RBI to retain the objective of transparent, responsible and non-evergreened credit, but reconsider an across-the-board ban on revolving facilities by NBFCs. It suggested that the final directions should distinguish consumer convenience credit from productive working-capital finance, regulate risks through underwriting, monitoring, disclosure and data-governance requirements, and preserve NBFCs' critical role in financing market segments not adequately served by banks.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24207.75, down by 126.80 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 24207.75 and 24378.60. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.76%, Axis Bank up by 1.62%, JSW Steel up by 1.57%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.53% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.31%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 2.14%, Infosys down by 2.10%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.96% and Nestle India down by 1.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 39.3 points or 0.46% to 8,478.50 and Germany’s DAX gained 67.36 points or 0.26% to 26,333.50, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 14.18 points or 0.13% to 10,871.98.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday tracking a sharp fall in crude oil prices and a drop in bond yields, amid hopes that the vital Strait of Hormuz could soon reopen. Iran said it had restarted talks with Oman on managing the Strait. The Shanghai Composite gained as investors eagerly awaited developments from the ongoing meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. However, traders were reluctant to make significant bets ahead of key events in the coming days, including key U.S. inflation data and U.S. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s debut speech at the annual Jackson Hole conference. Investors also awaited another pivotal earnings report from AI heavyweight Nvidia. On the economic data front, Singapore’s manufacturing production grew by 6.8% year-on-year in July 2026, slightly below market forecasts for a 6.9% gain, but easing from a 7.5% rise in June. Meanwhile, South Korea’s manufacturing Business Survey Index fell to 81 points in August 2026 from 82 in July, indicating a continued deterioration in business conditions.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,912.52

23.08

0.59

Hang Seng

25,652.97

141.87

0.56

Jakarta Composite

6,405.68

-95.99

-1.48

KLSE Composite

1,748.54

12.21

0.70

Nikkei 225

66,262.16

405.73

0.62

Straits Times

5,721.59

-14.09

-0.25

KOSPI Composite

6,808.21

65.47

0.97

Taiwan Weighted

45,832.62

663.16

1.47
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