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Weak trade persists during late afternoon deals
Aug-19-2026

Benchmarks continued to trade half-a-percent lower during late afternoon deals as Brent crude oil prices surged past the $91 a barrel mark amid concerns over a prolonged disruption to energy supplies after US President Donald Trump denied any undergoing and scheduled talks with Iran to end the war. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors turned net buyers on Tuesday’s session, buying securities worth Rs 1,651.53 crore. 

On the sectoral front, sugar stocks were in limelight with Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar surging 8%, Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries up 4.71%, Triveni Engineering & Industries up 4%, Shree Renuka Sugars up 4.08%, as tightened supply and high prices raised expectations of stronger realizations for producers.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red amid concerns about surging oil prices and rising bond yields. European equity markets were trading mostly in red as traders stayed away from risky bets ahead of release of minutes from Federal Reserve's July policy meeting, which due later in the day.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76991.99, down by 243.47 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 76822.89 and 77347.81. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.37%, TECK up by 0.13% and Bankex up by 0.03%, while Capital Goods down by 1.40%, Power down by 1.36%, Industrials down by 1.03%, Telecom down by 0.97% and Utilities down by 0.93% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.58%, HCL Technologies up by 1.52%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.92%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 0.84% and TCS up by 0.26%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.79%, ITC down by 1.44%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.31%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.21% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim of bringing clean, safe and affordable piped cooking gas to more households across the country, the Government of India has approved an Incentive Scheme for the Promotion of Domestic PNG (Piped Natural Gas) Connections. The scheme will come into effect from September 1, 2026. The scheme is designed to speed up the expansion of active PNG connections, helping more families start using piped natural gas in their kitchens at the earliest.

Currently, there are 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections across the country. The new scheme will provide direct incentives to City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies to convert unbilled connections into active connections and expand the PNG network to new areas. PNG provides households with a safer, cleaner and more convenient alternative to LPG cylinders and traditional cooking fuels.

Under the scheme, eligible CGD entities will receive an additional 200 SCM (Standard Cubic Metres) of domestically produced, lower-priced (APM) gas for every new billed domestic PNG connection above the threshold set for their respective Geographical Area. The scheme will be implemented in two tranches over a period of six months.

The additional gas allocation will help CGD entities replace some of the costlier Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) they currently procure for their Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) segment. This will reduce their overall gas-sourcing costs. These cost savings are likely to reduce the payback period for capital expenditure incurred in domestic PNG connections from around 10 years to around 3 years. This will give CGD companies a strong financial incentive to expand household PNG connections more rapidly.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24050.90, down by 104.00 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 24025.65 and 24172.85. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 1.69%, Eternal up by 1.66%, JSW Steel up by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.04% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.83%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.74%, ITC down by 1.41%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.20% and Max Healthcare Institute down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 2086.73 points or 3.19% to 65,374.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 589.33 points or 1.32% to 44,719.35, KOSPI dropped 398.66 points or 6.16% to 6,471.17, Straits Times fell 14.6 points or 0.26% to 5,686.80, Shanghai Composite weakened 95.88 points or 2.46% to 3,894.42 and Jakarta Composite plunged 48.85 points or 0.76% to 6,400.98, while Hang Seng advanced 9.85 points or 0.04% to 25,481.00.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 17.12 points or 0.16% to 10,710.92 and Germany’s DAX lost 15.16 points or 0.06% to 26,113.20, while France’s CAC rose 28.04 points or 0.33% to 8,537.40.
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