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Benchmarks trade firm in early deals on positive global cues
Aug-20-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimist start on Thursday and were trading firm in early deals tracking broadly positive cues from global peers as US bond yields eased and dollar weakened. Traders took encouragement with report that India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra met US Assistant Secretary of State S Paul Kapur and discussed developments across various pillars of the bilateral partnership. 

Sensex is outperforming Nifty with around 0.75% gains as buying in almost all the index stocks except NTPC. Besides, Nifty traded higher with gains of 0.55% and reclaimed the 24,200 mark as gains in IT and financial stocks lifted sentiment. Some support also came as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) extended their buying streak for the second consecutive day, buying equities worth Rs 407.99 crore on August 19, 2026.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets traded higher with KOSPI gaining over 6% as technology stocks rebounded sharply following their recent selloff. Besides, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) kept lending rates unchanged for the 15th straight month in August. Meanwhile, the US Department of the Treasury announced that it would at least double buyback operations for long-dated government debt in a bid to keep borrowing costs in check. This eased pressure from the bond market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77480.26, up by 570.58 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 77375.75 and 77494.79. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.68%, TECK up by 1.27%, Realty up by 1.10%, Bankex up by 0.83% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.75%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.44% and Energy down by 0.34% were the only losing indices on BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.33%, Infosys up by 2.22%, Axis Bank up by 1.51%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.40% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.38%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.03% was the sole loser.

Meanwhile, with an aim of deepening economic ties with the Southeast Asian financial hub, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal are in Singapore for high-level talks. A 70-member Indian business delegation accompanying Goyal will seek new investment, trade and technology partnerships, while Sitharaman is leading a ministerial delegation comprising External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Goyal, and Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada for the fourth India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), scheduled for August 20. Goyal is leading around 70 senior business leaders from sectors including artificial intelligence, technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, food and agriculture, logistics, maritime and trade.

The Commerce Ministry said the business delegation will hold government-to-business and business-to-business engagements focused on investment, market access, technology collaboration, partnerships and talent development. The ISMR will be held alongside the India-Singapore Business Roundtable, providing a parallel forum for business leaders from the two countries. The programme will also include an MoU-signing ceremony. Indian ministers are scheduled to engage with their Singaporean counterparts and other senior Singaporean leaders. Goyal will also call on Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during the visit.

Established in 2022, the ISMR is the main high-level economic mechanism between the two countries and covers advanced manufacturing, connectivity, digitalisation, healthcare and medicine, skills development and sustainability. The fourth round will review progress in these areas and identify new opportunities to strengthen the economic partnership. Singapore is a major source of foreign capital for India and a key economic partner in Southeast Asia. India is seeking to build on these investment links while expanding cooperation in technology, manufacturing, digitalisation and other emerging sectors. Bilateral trade has also grown substantially since the implementation of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, rising from $6.7 billion in 2004-05 to $36.1 billion in 2025-26.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24210.95, up by 132.65 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 24184.55 and 24225.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 2.47%, Shriram Finance up by 2.26%, Infosys up by 1.89%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.36% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 1.95%, ONGC down by 1.45%, Coal India down by 0.71%, Max Healthcare down by 0.69% and NTPC down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 733.58 points or 1.12% to 66,060.00, KOSPI jumped 422.59 points or 6.53% to 6,893.76, Hang Seng strengthened 287.93 points or 1.12% to 25,783.00, Jakarta Composite gained 74.93 points or 1.17% to 6,469.06 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.81 points or 0.28% to 3,905.23. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted fell 131.28 points or 0.29% to 44,588.07 and Straits Times was down by 21.94 points or 0.39% to 5,672.30.
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