By Our Business Correspondent
Indian equity benchmarks ended largely flat on Friday as investors remained cautious amid persistent geopolitical tensions involving Iran, elevated crude oil prices and rising bond yields in major developed markets. While selective buying in heavyweight stocks, particularly metals and private-sector banks, helped the market avoid a deeper decline, weakness in FMCG and automobile counters capped gains.
The Nifty 50 settled at 24,252, gaining 20.15 points or 0.08 per cent, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 77,540.83, up a marginal 3.11 points or 0.004 per cent.
Friday’s session reflected a lack of strong directional cues, with investors balancing domestic economic indicators and stock-specific developments against concerns over global inflation, crude prices and monetary policy.
Brent crude remained elevated near the $94-a-barrel mark as the continuing US-Iran standoff raised concerns over energy supplies from the Gulf region. Higher oil prices are particularly important for India because a sustained increase in crude can widen the country’s import bill, put pressure on the rupee and complicate the inflation outlook.
At the same time, rising US Treasury yields continued to weigh on emerging-market assets. Higher yields in developed economies can reduce the relative attractiveness of riskier emerging-market equities by encouraging global investors to favour dollar-denominated fixed-income assets.
Metals, Banks Lead Gainers
Buying interest in select heavyweight stocks provided support to the benchmark indices. Power Grid Corporation of India emerged among the prominent gainers in the Nifty pack, advancing 2.87 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 1.37 per cent, while ICICI Bank rose 0.57 per cent.
Banking stocks benefited from selective buying as investors continued to focus on companies with relatively strong balance sheets and earnings visibility.
Among individual stocks, Data Patterns (India) climbed 2.17 per cent after the company announced that it had received an order worth approximately Rs 585.76 crore from Bharat Electronics for procurement of radar electronics.
RailTel Corporation of India advanced 1.87 per cent after securing a Rs 164-crore order from Western Coalfields.
Saatvik Green Energy gained 3.98 per cent after its material subsidiary, Saatvik Solar Industries, received an order from an independent power producer/EPC player for the supply of solar photovoltaic modules.
Bajel Projects was one of the day’s strongest performers, jumping 6.32 per cent after its joint venture entity, AnantGrid Projects One, emerged as the successful bidder for the Lakadia-Part A interstate transmission project in Gujarat.
Walchandnagar Industries rose 1.38 per cent after receiving a Rs 30.53-crore order from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre for supplying HS200 motorcases for the Gaganyaan mission.
NMDC Steel added 0.68 per cent after Crisil Ratings upgraded its rating on the company’s long-term bank facilities to ‘Crisil A/Stable’ from ‘Crisil BBB+/Stable’.
Lemon Tree Hotels edged up 0.30 per cent after announcing the opening of Lemon Tree Hotel, Bharuch, its 12th operational hotel in Gujarat. The company has another 20 hotels in the pipeline across the state.
ICICI Bank, meanwhile, gained 0.57 per cent after its board approved borrowings through bonds/notes and offshore certificates of deposits in overseas markets, with a revised limit of up to $5 billion.
Auto, FMCG Stocks Under Pressure
On the losing side, automobile and FMCG stocks remained under pressure as investors continued to assess the impact of higher input costs and broader consumption trends.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles declined 0.73 per cent after announcing that it would increase prices of its cars and SUVs by up to Rs 25,000 from September 1, 2026.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals fell 0.64 per cent after its US subsidiary launched Calcium Gluconate Injection USP in three presentations in the American market.
B.L. Kashyap & Sons declined 2.93 per cent despite announcing a new order worth Rs 183.18 crore from Realkraft Ventures LLP.
The broader market, however, remained relatively resilient. The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.12 per cent, while the BSE 250 SmallCap Index gained 0.31 per cent, indicating continued investor interest in select mid- and small-cap stocks.
Market breadth was positive on the NSE, with 1,884 shares advancing against 1,630 declines, while 130 stocks remained unchanged.
However, volatility increased. The India VIX, which measures market expectations of near-term volatility, jumped 4.25 per cent to 11.21.
Nifty Faces Resistance at 24,300-24,400
From a technical perspective, analysts expect the Nifty to remain range-bound in the near term as investors await clearer global and domestic signals.
The 24,100-24,000 zone is expected to act as an important support area. A sustained break below this range could increase selling pressure. On the upside, the 24,300-24,400 band remains the immediate resistance zone.
A decisive move above the resistance area could improve market sentiment and open the door for further gains, while failure to cross it may keep the index under pressure.
Private Activity Shows Modest Improvement
Domestic economic data provided a mixed picture.
The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index rose to 54.6 in August from 54.3 in July, indicating a modest recovery in private-sector business activity after July’s 52-month low.
Despite the improvement, the reading remained the second-weakest since March 2022, suggesting that India’s private-sector growth continued to operate at a subdued pace.
The improvement was led by services. The Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 54.5 in August from 53.3 in July. Both services activity and new business growth improved after reaching 53-month lows in July.
Manufacturing, however, remained a weak spot. The Manufacturing PMI declined for the third consecutive month to 52.9 from 53.5, marking its lowest level since August 2021.
The Manufacturing PMI Output Index also dropped to 54.9 from 56.4, indicating a further moderation in factory-sector momentum.
The contrasting performance of services and manufacturing suggests that while India’s services economy is showing signs of stabilisation, industrial activity continues to face pressure.
Crude, Rupee and Bonds
In commodities, Brent crude for October 2026 delivery declined 38 cents, or 0.41 per cent, to $93.40 a barrel. Despite the marginal decline, prices remained elevated amid continuing uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran standoff and Gulf energy supplies.
The rupee edged higher against the US dollar, with the partially convertible currency quoted at 95.7100 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 95.7475.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark government security eased to 6.870 per cent from 6.873 per cent.
Gold continued to attract buying interest. MCX Gold futures for October 5, 2026 delivery rose 1.28 per cent to Rs 1,61,459, reflecting continued demand for the traditional safe-haven asset.
The US Dollar Index declined 0.26 per cent to 98.64, while the US 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.02 percentage point to 4.699 per cent.
Global Markets Remain Cautious
Global markets remained mixed as investors continued to assess the impact of higher oil prices and bond yields on inflation and interest-rate expectations.
Asian equities largely remained on course for weekly losses as US Treasury yields resumed their upward movement. European markets edged higher, but overall risk appetite remained cautious.
Japan’s core consumer inflation accelerated to 1.8 per cent year-on-year in July from 1.6 per cent in June, its fastest pace since January. The data strengthened expectations that the Bank of Japan could consider another rate increase as early as September.
Wall Street had a weak session on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.32 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.87 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1 per cent.
Walmart shares plunged 9.2 per cent after weaker-than-expected sales growth raised concerns about the health of consumer spending in the US.
Investors are now turning their attention to the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy outlook and the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, scheduled for August 27-29. Any indication from policymakers regarding the future path of US interest rates could have a significant impact on global equity and bond markets.
US Dow Jones futures, however, were up around 205 points on Friday, indicating a potentially stronger opening for Wall Street.
IPO Market Remains Strong
The primary market continued to attract substantial investor interest, with several ongoing public issues witnessing strong subscription.
Augmont Enterprises received bids for 2,11,33,624 shares against 77,15,999 shares on offer, translating into a subscription of 2.74 times as of 5 pm on August 21. The issue opened on August 21 and will close on August 25. Its price band is Rs 750-788 per share, with a minimum bid of 19 shares.
Tempsens Instruments (India) attracted bids for 32,86,32,350 shares against 1,51,81,667 shares on offer, resulting in a subscription of 21.65 times. The issue opened on August 19 and closed on August 21. Its price band was fixed at Rs 285-300 per share.
The strongest subscription among the three was recorded by Gaja Alternative Asset Management, which received bids for 79,35,31,056 shares against 2,53,28,946 shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 31.33 times. The price band was Rs 152-160 per share, with a minimum bid of 93 shares.
Overall, Friday’s market action reflected a cautious equilibrium. Domestic equities managed to hold above the psychologically important 24,250 level despite a challenging global backdrop. Stronger services activity, selective corporate order wins and buying in banking and metal counters provided support, but elevated crude prices, rising global bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty continued to restrict the upside.
With the Nifty caught between support at 24,100-24,000 and resistance at 24,300-24,400, the market is likely to remain highly sensitive to crude prices, global bond yields, foreign flows and developments surrounding Iran in the coming sessions.
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