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Indices remain weak in late morning deals
Aug-19-2026

Domestic equity indices remained lower in late morning deals, tracking weak cues from global markets. Rising crude oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields weighed on domestic sentiment. Crude oil prices rose on supply uncertainty as investors weighed conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington on whether the Strait of Hormuz is open to ships. The U.S. 30-year Treasury bond yield hit a new 19-year high on Tuesday as worries about the U.S. fiscal landscape and inflation persisted.

Both the Sensex and Nifty were trading over 0.40 percent lower, weighed down by selling in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, and State Bank of India. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen piling up positions only in Oil & Gas and IT, while selling was witnessed in Power, Capital Goods, Utilities, Industrials, and Telecom.

On the Global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in the red following negative cues from the U.S. markets overnight. Back home, shares of leading gas distributors, including Indraprastha Gas, Mahanagar Gas and Adani Total Gas, were trading higher after the government approved an incentive scheme to promote domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76891.30, down by 344.16 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 76823.91 and 77347.81. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.07% and IT up by 0.02%, while Power down by 1.65%, Capital Goods down by 1.54%, Utilities down by 1.19%, Industrials down by 1.12% and Telecom down by 0.93% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 0.82%, Sun Pharma up by 0.72%, Trent up by 0.57%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.34% and HCL Technologies up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.55%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.08%, HDFC Bank down by 1.08%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that he would be visiting Japan from August 24 to August 27, 2026 to hold discussions on further strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries. He said Japan has set a target of investing 10 trillion yen (about Rs 60,000 crore) in India over the next decade, with sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical minerals, batteries, energy and next-generation mobility expected to drive future investment.

The minister said the growing India-Japan partnership is already visible on the ground, citing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, Japanese-assisted metro systems in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, and 11 Japanese industrial townships across eight States. He further said that the seven streams of national transformation outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi--manufacturing, agriculture, technology, infrastructure, energy and defence, green and blue economy, and India’s civilisational soft power--represent areas where the strengths of India and Japan complement each other. He said the partnership goes beyond economic growth and reflects a shared commitment to becoming trusted partners in global progress. 

He added that India-Japan bilateral trade of $27.5 billion in 2025-26 is still a fraction of bilateral potential. Japan has emerged as India's fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI), with over 1,400 Japanese companies that currently operating in India, including Suzuki, Toyota and Honda in mobility, Sony in electronics, and Hitachi and Mitsubishi in engineering. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24052.25, down by 102.65 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 24027.90 and 24172.85. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 0.95%, Eternal up by 0.85%, Sun Pharma up by 0.84%, Trent up by 0.68% and HCL Technologies up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.77%, Coal India down by 1.66%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.13%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.12% and Interglobe Aviation down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 slipped 2134.73 points or 3.16% to 65,326.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 667.24 points or 1.49% to 44,641.44, Jakarta Composite plunged 38.63 points or 0.6% to 6,411.20, Shanghai Composite weakened 90.11 points or 2.26% to 3,900.19, KOSPI dropped 388.99 points or 5.66% to 6,480.84 and Straits Times fell 16.35 points or 0.29% to 5,685.05. However, Hang Seng advanced 19.85 points or 0.08% to 25,491.00.
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