Markets were trading higher at midday on Thursday, holding on to most of their gap-up opening gains, though indices entered a narrow consolidation phase as participants turned cautious at higher levels. At 12.15 pm, the Sensex was at 77,449.38, up 539.70 points or 0.70 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,217.20, up 138.90 points or 0.58 per cent, against a previous close of 24,078.30. The Nifty had been confined to a 42-point range since the opening, reflecting a wait-and-watch approach among traders.
Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, noted that “frontline private-sector banks are displaying relative strength and providing crucial support to the benchmark indices,” with HDFC Bank emerging as the top contributor to Nifty’s gains. On the options front, Shah flagged “meaningful call writing across 24,300 and 24,400 strikes,” with substantial put open interest at 24,200 and 24,100 strikes. Nifty’s Advances-Declines Ratio stood at 40:9. Shah placed intraday support for the Nifty at 24,160–24,140 and resistance at 24,260–24,280, with a move above 24,280 potentially extending the rally to 24,440. For the Sensex, support was seen at 77,000 and resistance at 77,800.
Among the Nifty 50 gainers, Eternal led with a 2.19 per cent rise to ₹327.00 on exceptionally heavy volumes of 2,40,98,766 shares worth ₹78,733.08 lakh. Shriram Finance advanced 1.93 per cent to ₹1,127.40 on volumes of 15,97,663 shares worth ₹18,049.44 lakh. Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 1.82 per cent to ₹397.35, with 51,06,215 shares changing hands worth ₹20,226.74 lakh. Bajaj Finance rose 1.60 per cent to ₹1,097.50 on volumes of 38,47,271 shares worth ₹42,194.18 lakh, while Jio Financial Services added 1.40 per cent to ₹246.55 on 51,99,067 shares worth ₹12,755.91 lakh.
On the losing side, Hindalco was the biggest decliner, down 0.77 per cent to ₹1,030.90 on volumes of 30,78,808 shares worth ₹31,583.34 lakh. Asian Paints fell 0.67 per cent to ₹2,613.30, while Apollo Hospitals and Nestle India each shed 0.37 per cent, trading at ₹8,718.00 and ₹1,459.60, respectively. IndiGo slipped 0.20 per cent to ₹5,182.50. Sectorally, Nifty Bank and Nifty IT were the best-performing indices, while Nifty Oil and Gas was the worst performer. On the BSE, 2,491 stocks advanced against 1,562 declines, with 149 stocks hitting 52-week highs and 68 touching 52-week lows.
In commodities, COMEX Gold was trading at $4,553.70, up 0.22 per cent, while MCX Gold was at ₹1,58,499, up 0.32 per cent, extending its breakout above the ₹1,58,000 mark. COMEX Silver surged 2.02 per cent to $67.155, hitting an eight-week high, supported partly by a 62.5 per cent year-on-year rise in Chinese imports of silver-bearing ores in June, driven by demand from the country’s solar-panel and power-grid sectors. MCX Silver gained 1.40 per cent to ₹2,40,108. MCX Crude Oil eased to around ₹8,100 after facing resistance near ₹8,350, while WTI crude held near $84.50 per barrel. The rupee was trading around ₹95.60 to the dollar, marginally off recent highs but still under broad pressure.
Investors were also watching for remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium for fresh policy signals, as unresolved US–Iran tensions continued to keep a geopolitical risk premium embedded across energy and currency markets.
Published on August 20, 2026
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