Indian stock market indices recovered from early losses on Thursday, August 13, with the Sensex opening at 78,111.91 and touching an early high of 78,119.39 before falling to a low of 77,665.89. From the day's low, the Sensex had recovered nearly 292 points during the session. The Nifty 50 was trading at 24,392.25, down 43.70 points or 0.18%, having opened at 24,431.60 and touched a low of 24,311.40 before recovering around 81 points from the day's low. The recovery came after benchmark indices extended their weakness in early trade amid mixed global cues and concerns over elevated crude oil prices, with buying in several large-cap stocks supporting the market's resilience. The Nifty slipped below 24,350 during the session, reflecting continued pressure from Middle East tensions and mixed global signals.
Several sectors moved into positive territory during the session, with realty, IT and auto stocks leading the recovery. The Nifty Realty index rose 0.54%, recovering sharply from the day's low, while the Nifty IT index gained 0.14% and the Nifty Auto index rose 0.11%. The Nifty FMCG index gained 0.37%, the Nifty Media index advanced 0.35%, and the Nifty Chemicals index was up 0.65%. However, some sectors remained under pressure, with the Nifty Cement index falling 1.04%, the Nifty Private Bank declining 0.50%, and the Nifty Metal falling 0.80%. The Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom index gained 0.78%, indicating buying interest in IT and telecom stocks beyond the large-cap space. The mixed sectoral performance reflected investor caution amid ongoing Middle East tensions and crude oil price concerns.
Among major index constituents, Eternal was the top gainer, rising 1.84%, while IndiGo gained 1.83% and BEL rose 1.53%. L&T advanced 1.40%, with Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel also trading higher. However, several heavyweight stocks weighed on the benchmarks, with Ultratech Cement declining 1.45%, Titan falling 1.42%, Reliance Industries down 0.99%, and ICICI Bank declining 0.96%. Adani Ports, Power Grid and Axis Bank were among other major losers during the session. The divergent performance between large-cap and mid-cap stocks highlighted selective buying patterns amid the mixed market sentiment.
The broader market continued to show relative resilience compared with the benchmark indices, with Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining 0.26%, Nifty Smallcap 250 rising 0.20%, and Nifty Smallcap 50 advancing 0.19%. The Nifty Microcap 250 was up 0.27%, while the Nifty Smallcap 500 gained 0.24%. However, mid-cap indices remained marginally weak, with the Nifty Midcap 100 declining 0.12% and the Nifty Midcap 150 falling 0.09%. The India VIX fell 1.58% to 11.51, suggesting that volatility expectations remained relatively subdued despite the weakness in headline indices. The resilience in smaller companies contrasted with the benchmark indices' decline, indicating selective investor interest in specific sectors.
The market's recovery from the day's lows is a positive sign for the session, although the benchmarks remain below their previous close. Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, noted that yesterday's swing higher from the 20 dma and the hammer formed thereof appears to have set up conditions to force a trend reversal aiming 24,540-24,666 initially, followed by 24,850-25,100. However, he expects a consolidation on approach to 24,490, with upside prospects reducing if this holds. The total market cap of all BSE Sensex companies at 9:17 am was ₹4,92,17,509. The continued weakness in benchmark indices despite broader market resilience reflects investor caution amid ongoing Middle East tensions, mixed global cues, and concerns over elevated crude oil prices. Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday, helped by optimism around artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks, with Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi posting strong gains, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% in the previous session.
