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Key gauges trade with minor gains in morning deals
Aug-21-2026

Indian equity benchmarks managed to keep their heads above water in morning deals, supported by gains in select heavyweight stocks. Traders took support as a survey showed India's private sector activity edged slightly higher in August from an over four-year low as a rebound in services growth offset the weakest expansion in the factory industry in half a decade. HSBC's flash India Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 54.6 in August from July's 52-month low of 54.3. However, gains remained limited as elevated crude oil prices due to geopolitical uncertainties and a sharp fall in US markets made investors cautious. 

Both Sensex and Nifty were trading with minor gains with buying interest visible in Utilities, Power, and select PSU segments. FMCG and Healthcare stocks remained under pressure. Meanwhile, exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers on August 20, 2026, selling equities worth Rs 583.36 crore. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green despite the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with few other markets trading relatively flat amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East tensions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77607.67, up by 69.95 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 77445.86 and 77725.67. There were 13 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.81%, Power up by 0.67%, PSU up by 0.57%, Industrials up by 0.45% and Capital Goods up by 0.37%, while FMCG down by 0.75%, Auto down by 0.63%, Healthcare down by 0.33%, Consumer Disc down by 0.30% and Consumer Durables down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 1.52%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.23%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.17%, NTPC up by 0.49% and HDFC Bank up by 0.43%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.17%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.02%, Titan Company down by 0.69%, Eternal down by 0.49% and Trent down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that nine key infrastructure sectors’ output growth rose to 5.4 per cent in July 2026 following an increase in output of coal, refinery products, cement, electricity and iron ore. The core sectors' growth was 3.2 per cent in July 2025 and 6 per cent in June 2026. During April-July 2026-27, the key sectors expanded by 4.3 per cent against 1.5 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.  From June 2026, the data has been released with a new base year, 2022-23, replacing the earlier base year of 2011-12. The government has also added iron ore to the index, increasing the number of core sectors to nine.   

According to the data, Iron Ore production having 4.90% weight increased by 29.5 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025, and its cumulative index increased by 25.2 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Steel production having 17.58% weight increased by 2.9 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index rose by 4.5 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.   

Electricity generation having 30.93% weight increased by 9.0 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 9.3 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Cement production having 4.41% weight increased by 13.1 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index increased by 9.9 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 22.57% weight increased by 2.7 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 2.5 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Coal production having 5.59% weight increased by 7.6 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 3.1 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Crude Oil production having 7.43% weight declined by 5.3 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 4.3 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.73% weight declined by 8.0 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 5.2 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 3.84% weight declined by 3.7 per cent in July 2026 over July 2025 and its cumulative index declined by 4.4 per cent during April to July 2026-27 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24249.35, up by 17.50 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 24206.80 and 24284.05. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation up by 2.00%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.32%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.32%, NTPC up by 1.01% and HDFC Bank up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.24%, Max Healthcare down by 1.03%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.95%, JSW Steel down by 0.83% and Tata Consumer Products down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 164.09 points or 0.37% to 45,097.83, Jakarta Composite gained 33.99 points or 0.52% to 6,535.58, KOSPI increased 82.41 points or 1.2% to 6,934.99, Hang Seng advanced 163.51 points or 0.64% to 25,862.00 and Straits Times rose 7.86 points or 0.14% to 5,679.77.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 10.75 points or 0.28% to 3,892.97 and Nikkei 225 slipped 321.79 points or 0.49% to 65,895.00.
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