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Key gauges extend losing streak amid geopolitical tensions
Aug-19-2026

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losing streak on Wednesday as elevated crude oil prices amid a lack of a diplomatic resolution following the end of the US-Iran ceasefire dented investor sentiment. Brent crude has crossed $91 a barrel while long-term bond yields have surged to multi-year highs, fuelling risk aversion and weighed on equities.

Both the Sensex and Nifty ended lower, weighed down by losses in Power, Capital Goods and Utilities stocks. However, the downside remained limited as exchange data showing that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,651.53 crore on Tuesday. 

Some of the important factors in trade: 

India, Singapore set to discuss trade, investment, advanced manufacturing at ISMR: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said 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. 

Goyal to undertake four-day visit to Japan for strengthening trade, investment ties: 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.

India’s overseas investment commitments surge 16.74% in July 2026: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed 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.  

Finance Minister urges PSBs to help shape, finance Viksit Bharat vision: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions to help shape, finance and enable the vision of Viksit Bharat. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in red even as the European Central Bank said the euro area current account surplus increased in June, reflecting the rise in primary income. The current account surplus rose to EUR 35 billion from EUR 26 billion in May. Asian markets ended mostly lower amid concerns about surging oil prices and rising bond yields. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 325.78 points or 0.42% to 76,909.68 and the CNX Nifty was down by 76.60 points or 0.32% to 24,078.30. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 77,347.81 and 76,822.89, respectively. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. 

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.27%, 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%, Telecom down by 1.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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 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.

Meanwhile, with an aim to expand bilateral ties, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said 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. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada will travel to Singapore to attend the ISMR. During their visit, the ministers will meet their counterparts and call on the Singaporean leadership.

The MEA said the ISMR is an important platform for driving cooperation, including in new and emerging areas. Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022, followed by the second meeting in Singapore in August 2024 and the third in New Delhi in August 2025. Deliberations on advanced manufacturing, connectivity, digitalization, healthcare and medicine, skills development and sustainability at these meetings have helped shape the Roadmap for the India-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). The CSP Roadmap was unveiled during Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's visit to India in September 2025.

Singapore is India's largest trading partner in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). It is also India's leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and among the largest sources of external commercial borrowings and foreign portfolio investment. Singapore was India's sixth-largest trading partner in the financial year 2024-25. India's imports from Singapore stood at $21.2 billion in 2024-25, while exports to the country were valued at $14.4 billion. Over the past 10 years, Singapore's annual investments in India have ranged between $10 billion and $15 billion.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 24,172.85 and 24,025.65, respectively. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

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 down by 1.72%, Coal India down by 1.70%, Power Grid down by 1.68%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.29% and ITC down by 1.09% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.68 points or 0.13% to 10,714.36 and Germany’s DAX lost 15.26 points or 0.06% to 26,113.10, while France’s CAC rose 33.24 points or 0.39% to 8,542.60. 

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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