Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday, August 12, with both the Sensex and Nifty slipping in early trade amid mixed global cues. The BSE Sensex stood at 78,020.65, down 133.60 points or 0.17 per cent, while the NSE Nifty was at 24,415.60, declining 56.10 points or 0.23 per cent.
Hindalco, Nestle, ONGC, Grasim Industries and Tech Mahindra emerged as the top gainers on the Nifty, while Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Max Healthcare, InterGlobe Aviation and Titan Company featured among the key laggards.
Meanwhile, in the previous trading session on Tuesday, Indian equity benchmarks closed in the red, with elevated crude oil prices and persistent geopolitical concerns dampening market sentiment. The 30-stock BSE Sensex declined 388.19 points, or 0.49 per cent, to finish at 78,154.25. The index came under further pressure during the session, slipping as much as 494.18 points, or 0.62 per cent, to touch 78,048.26.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, noted, “The market is defying a breakout on the upside and is moving sideways. The principal factor restraining a rally is the strengthening Brent crude which has again moved above $89 level. The off and on in the US -Iran skirmishes continues with the latest attack by US military on a Panama-flagged container ship. Iran now appears to be hardening its stance on the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. This might keep crude prices elevated constraining a rally in the market.”
He added, “On the positive side, India’s growth resilience is getting better. Latest report from the SBI projects the FY27 GDP growth at 8 per cent against the RBI’s 6.7 per cent. This optimism is based on the trends in most leading indicators. If this turns out to be true, corporate earnings for FY27 will be much better-than-expected. This is a bullish factor. A significant trend in the market is the hyper activity in the mid and small-cap segments where stocks are responding to results and news.”