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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Aug-19-2026

Indian equity markets remained lower on Wednesday, extending their decline over the past few sessions, amid elevated crude oil prices and renewed uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran conflict after Trump said Washington was not holding peace negotiations with Iran. However, losses were limited as foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in Tuesday’s session, buying securities worth Rs 1,651.53 crore.

Both the Sensex and Nifty ended in negative territory amid broad-based weakness across sectors, tracking losses in global markets. However, selective buying in IT stocks provided some support and helped markets to cap the losses.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India’s OFDI commitments surge 16.74% in July 2026: Investors took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report showing that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments jumped by 16.74% to $5,705.42 million in July 2026 as against $4,887.22 million in July 2025. 

Goyal to visit Japan to discuss trade, investments: Traders paid no heed towards Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that he will undertake a four-day visit to Japan from August 24, 2026 to hold discussions on strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries. 

India, Singapore set to discuss trade, investment, advanced manufacturing at ISMR: Traders overlooked the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) statement that the fourth round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) will be held in Singapore on August 20, 2026, with the two countries looking to further expand cooperation in key sectors such as trade, investment, advanced manufacturing and digitalization. 

On the global front: European markets were trading mostly in red as investors turned their attention to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting, due later in the day. Asian markets ended mostly lower tracking weak cues from Wall Street overnight.

The BSE Sensex ended at 76909.68, down by 325.78 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 76822.89 and 77347.81. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.27% and TECK up by 0.03%, while Power down by 1.69%, Capital Goods down by 1.59%, Utilities down by 1.25%, Industrials down by 1.15% and Telecom down by 1.01% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.73%, Eternal up by 1.33%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.23%, Sun Pharma up by 1.15% and Titan Company up by 0.27%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 2.00%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.31%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.27%, ITC down by 1.18% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry, in its latest data, has said that India’s tanker exports surged more than six-fold to $1.36 billion in the June quarter of current financial year (Q1FY27), up from $221.1 million a year earlier, highlighting the country’s expanding shipbuilding and maritime engineering capabilities. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the largest destination during the period. It stated that export volumes also expanded significantly from 10 vessels to 23 vessels, reflecting increasing international demand for Indian-built tankers and marine transportation assets.

It mentioned that the United Arab Emirates emerged as the dominant export destination, accounting for $900.8 million worth of tanker imports in Q1FY27. Shipments to the UAE increased dramatically from $103.6 million to $900.8 million, while the number of exported vessels rose from four to seven tankers. Moreover, Singapore - one of the world's leading maritime hubs - became the second-largest destination with imports worth $146.4 million Q1FY27, up from $45.5 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Export volumes to Singapore increased from two vessels to six, demonstrating India's growing participation in global shipping and logistics ecosystems.

Further, outbound shipments to Sri Lanka rose from $7.9 million to $56.5 million, while new shipments were recorded to Egypt ($39.3 million), South Africa ($34.2 million), Vietnam ($31.5 million), Indonesia ($12.2 million), and Mozambique ($7.7 million). The increase in tanker exports reflects India’s expanding capabilities in high-value shipbuilding sector. Rising demand from the UAE, Singapore and other key maritime economies, coupled with rising vessel deliveries from Indian shipyards, demonstrates the country's growing role in global maritime trade and commercial shipping.  

Tankers are large-scale transport ships engineered for the bulk movement of liquids and gases. They serve as a cornerstone of global energy networks and industrial supply chains, they safely distribute vital commodities, including crude oil, petroleum products, chemicals, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and fresh water.     

The CNX Nifty ended at 24078.30, down by 76.60 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 24025.65 and 24172.85. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.06%, JSW Steel up by 1.44%, Sun Pharma up by 1.33%, Eternal up by 1.30% and Wipro up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Max Healthcare Institute down by 1.72%, Coal India down by 1.70%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 1.68%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.29% and ITC down by 1.09% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.76 points or 0.2% to 10,706.28 and Germany’s DAX lost 19.16 points or 0.07% to 26,109.20, while France’s CAC rose 28.04 points or 0.33% to 8,537.40.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday with South Korean market suffering heavy losses due to a major selloff among semiconductor and technology shares. Additionally, looming Middle East geopolitical tensions, higher crude oil prices, and rising bond yields dulled investor sentiments. Japan's Nikkei plunged amid domestic debt crisis, disappointing economic data, and structural changes in currency-inflation interact. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year JGB yield surged toward 2.95%, hitting its highest level since September 1996. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,894.422

-95.88

-2.4

Hang Seng

25,495.07

23.92

0.09

Jakarta Composite

6,394.12

-55.71

-0.87

KLSE Composite

1,731.32

-2.04

-0.12

Nikkei 225

65,326.42

-2,134.31

-3.16

Straits Times

5,694.24

-7.16

-0.13

KOSPI Composite

6,471.17

-398.66

-5.8

Taiwan Weighted

44,719.35

-589.33

-1.3
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