SSPL Securities Private Limited

Mid - Session

Market behaviours during the course of the trading session.

Indices edge higher in early trade; Nifty above 24,900 level; VIX slumps 1.78%

19-Aug-25 09:36 Hrs IST

The domestic equity indices traded with minor gains in early trade, supported by optimism over potential GST reforms and encouraging developments in the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.

The Nifty traded above the 24,900 level. Media, oil & gas and IT shares advanced while realty, pharma and auto shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 196.04 points or 0.24% to 81,480.42. The Nifty 50 index rose 40.90 points or 0.16% to 24,913.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.02% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.31%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,888 shares rose and 1,126 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 550.85 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4,103.81 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 August 2025, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Zinc rose 0.15%. The company's board approved setting up of a 10 MTPA Tailings Reprocessing plant as part of the company's overall 2X growth plan (i.e. doubling the capacity). The Tailings reprocessing plant, at a capital expenditure of up to Rs3,823 crore. aims to recover metal from the tailing dumps.

Reliance Industries added 1.22% after the company said that its FMCG arm, Reliance Consumer Products has forayed into the fast-growing healthy functional beverage space with the acquisition of majority stake in a Joint Venture with Naturedge Beverages Private.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.40% to 6.510 from the previous close of 6.484.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.2100 compared with its close of 87.3900 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 October 2025 settlement shed 0.04% to Rs 99,357.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.02% to 98.20.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.07% to 4.343.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2025 settlement shed 28 cent or 0.42% to $66.32 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Markets in Asia mostly traded lower on Tuesday as traders evaluated talks between U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, aimed at stopping the Moscow-Kyiv conflict.

European equity futures posted modest gains after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for his nation will likely be worked out within 10 days after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders.

In a social media post late on Monday, Trump said he had called Putin and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three Presidents.

Investors are also closely watching the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference between August 21 and 23, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak, could offer more clarity on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework.

Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks ended the day near the flatline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 34.30 points, or 0.08%, to close at 44,911.82. The S&P 500 closed down 0.01% and ended at 6,449.15, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.03% to settle at 21,629.77.

Data on Friday showed that while retail sales were increasing broadly as anticipated, consumer sentiment overall had taken a hit from mounting inflation fears. On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell to the lowest reading since December 2022.