Indian equities opened cautiously on Thursday, with the Sensex declining 82.52 points (0.11%) to 77,418.10 after opening at 77,576.76, while the Nifty 50 edged up 3.75 points (0.01%) to 24,204.95 from Wednesday's close of 24,207.75. According to Business Standard, investors weighed Nvidia's record earnings against sticky US inflation and a weak monsoon season at home. The Nifty touched an intraday high of 24,378.60 before settling below the 24,250 mark, with markets remaining range-bound despite overnight support from Nvidia's strong results. The Gift Nifty at 24,260 indicates that Indian markets are likely to open higher on Friday, though investor sentiment remains cautious. Market breadth remained positive with 1,701 shares rising and 1,340 shares falling on the BSE, while 214 shares remained unchanged.
Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50, Bajaj Finance led with a 1.28% rise to ₹1,098.90, followed by Tech Mahindra at ₹1,590.00 (up 1.21%) and Adani Enterprises at ₹3,147.50 (up 1.14%). Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 0.86% to ₹420.30 and ONGC rose 0.73% to ₹233.90. However, HDFC Bank was the steepest decliner, falling 1.13% to ₹719.00 on heavy volumes of 34.20 lakh shares worth ₹24,718.73 lakhs. Shriram Finance fell 0.53% to ₹1,111.60, Hindalco dropped 0.43% to ₹1,048.45, Power Grid slipped 0.34% to ₹264.30, and IndiGo eased 0.28% to ₹5,236.00. As per The Hindu BusinessLine, Wednesday's session had ended with the Nifty down 126.80 points (0.52%) at 24,207.75, dragged by a 1.45% fall in the IT index, while Metal and Private Bank indices gained over 1%.
Nvidia's post-market results provided overnight support to sentiment, with the chipmaker reporting Q2 FY27 revenue of $96.22 billion, more than double the year-ago figure, and adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share, ahead of market expectations. According to Business Standard, the results lifted Nasdaq futures roughly 1% and propelled South Korea's KOSPI up 1.8%, with SK Hynix rising 4.4% and Samsung Electronics up 2.8%. Nvidia shares jumped around 4.7% in extended trading following the results. The company forecast third-quarter revenue of $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, above the average Wall Street estimate of around $104.2 billion, and projected around 70% revenue growth for the fiscal year ending January 2028. Data centre revenue reached $89 billion, more than doubling from a year earlier, reinforcing expectations of sustained demand for AI infrastructure. Sentiment in technology and semiconductor stocks was clearly lifted by Nvidia's blowout quarterly results, helping the Nasdaq end about 1.5% higher.
DCB Bank rose more than 2% after sources said the lender was in talks with private equity investors for a potential capital infusion. Fedbank Financial Services advanced 0.85% after its board approved increasing aggregate borrowing limits to ₹23,000 crore from ₹18,000 crore and approved raising funds by issuing debt instruments up to ₹2,500 crore. Adani Energy Solutions shed 1.51% despite securing a key transmission project worth ₹4,700 crore for renewable energy evacuation. Advait Energy Transitions rallied 3.71% after receiving a turnkey contract worth ₹134.62 crore from MPPTCL. MTAR Technologies added 1.92% after securing orders worth ₹126.7 crore for the supply of coolant channel assemblies for refurbishing reactors. Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of Groww, fell 3.24% to ₹196.44 after around 12.75 crore shares changed hands in a block deal worth around ₹2,500 crore. NBCC (India) shed 0.32% after announcing a work order worth approximately ₹121.74 crore from the Rajasthan Council of School Education.
Brent crude for the October 2026 settlement declined 35 cents or 0.40% to $87.49 a barrel, easing pressure on India's inflation outlook and the rupee. The decline in oil prices helped push the US 10-year Treasury yield down to approximately 4.658%, while the yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.22% to 6.866 compared with the previous session close of 6.851. Asian stocks advanced for a third straight session, with technology shares leading gains following Nvidia's results. The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.00% on Thursday, the second consecutive hike as the central bank sought to contain persistent inflation. FPIs bought shares worth ₹15,491.48 crore in August so far through August 26, 2026, following net cash purchases of ₹6,731.97 crore in July 2026, while they were net sellers of ₹53,957.90 crore in June 2026.
