Although the Indian stock market finished Thursday’s session with mild gains, it marked the seventh consecutive gain for both benchmark indices, supported by select heavyweights such as Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries.
The Nifty 50 closed the session with a gain of 0.13%, ending above the 25K mark at 25,005, while the S&P BSE Sensex finished with a marginal gain of 0.15% at the 81,548 level. The broader markets also mirrored the same trend, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closing flat.
Investors continued to book profits in auto and technology stocks following a sharp run in recent sessions, while oil & gas and public sector banking stocks saw buying interest in today’s session.
At the sector level, the Nifty Oil & Gas index emerged as the top gainer, rising 1.07%, followed by Nifty Media and Nifty PSU Bank, which added 1.06% and 0.77%, respectively.
On the losing side, Nifty IT was the top laggard, slipping 0.45%, followed by Nifty Auto and Nifty Consumer Durables, which declined 0.33% and 0.26%, respectively.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee fell to another record low of 88.44 against the U.S. dollar, slipping past its prior all-time low of 88.36 hit last Friday, as the domestic currency was weighed down by sustained outflows from overseas investors amid higher US tariffs and elevated valuations, prompting them to shift their flows to other emerging markets.
20 Nifty 500 stocks gain between 3% and 8%
Waaree Energies led the gainers today as the stock closed with an 8% gain at ₹3,739 apiece, supported by a sharp surge in trading volumes. It was followed by Aurobindo Pharma, which rose 5.61% to ₹1,109 apiece after the Financial Times reported that private equity firm GTCR struck a €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion) deal to acquire Czech generic drugmaker Zentiva from Advent International.
Neuland Laboratories shares also closed with a 5.2% jump at ₹15,565, while Cholamandalam Finance ended at ₹1,881, up 4.2% from the previous close. Jupiter Wagons gained 4% to ₹332 apiece after its subsidiary, Jupiter Tatravagonka Railwheel Factory, secured a Letter of Acceptance from the Ministry of Railways to supply 9,000 FIAT axles for use in LHB coaches.
On similar lines, ACME Solar Holdings shares showed strength, rallying 3.8% after its wholly owned subsidiary, ACME Venus Urja, secured long-term project funding of ₹3,892 crore from the State Bank of India for the development and construction of a 400 MW Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) project, with repayment spread over 19 years.
Metal stocks such as Adani Enterprises and Hindustan Zinc closed with gains of up to 3.2%. Swan Corp, Gland Pharma, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Affle, 3I Infotech, NLC India, NHPC, JK Tyre & Industries, Sobha, and Tata Chemicals were among the 21 stocks that closed the session with a rally of over 3%.
Capital market stocks lead losses
Capital market stocks such as Angel One and BSE crashed 5.2% and 4.6%, respectively, after reports surfaced that India’s market regulator, SEBI, will float a consultation paper on ending weekly F&O contracts within a month.
SEBI plans to transition to monthly expiries and may consider same-day expiry across all exchanges, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources. The regulator’s board is likely to be briefed on longer derivative tenures on September 12, and consultations with exchanges are expected to start next week, the report says.
Meanwhile, extending its losing streak, Netweb Technologies shares fell another 4.1% to ₹3,000 apiece. Endurance Technologies, Godfrey Phillips India, JSW Holdings, TBO Tek, Nuvama Wealth Management, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Whirlpool of India, and Zen Technologies also lost between 3% and 4%.