The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Monday, 17 August, following weak global market cues. According to reports from LiveMint, the Gift Nifty was trading at around 24,401 level, a discount of nearly 49 points from the Nifty futures' previous close, indicating a weak start for the Indian benchmark index. The GIFT Nifty traded 0.12% lower at 24,399.50, pointing at a potentially muted to lower open for the Nifty. The domestic equity indices ended flat-to-negative in the previous session, with the benchmark Nifty 50 closing below 24,400 level, marking a significant decline from previous trading ranges. As per NDTV Profit, the trends on Gift Nifty also signal a weak start for the frontline indices, reflecting persistent global uncertainties affecting investor confidence.
At around 12:12 pm, the Nifty 50 fell 107 points, or 0.44%, to 24,259, while the Sensex was down 428.43 points, or 0.55%, at 77,580.82. The Nifty had touched an intraday low of 24,226.95, while the Sensex slipped to 77,453.75, as reported by Goodreturns. The decline is being driven by several factors rather than a single negative trigger, with investors weighing higher crude oil prices, rupee weakness, mixed global signals and renewed selling in key sectors. The cautious mood comes after Indian benchmark indices ended the previous week lower, breaking a two-week winning run, with valuations and earnings expectations already being closely watched. With heightened external risks, investors appear reluctant to take fresh aggressive positions.
Weakness in technology stocks emerged as one of the biggest drags on the market, with the Nifty IT index falling 1.37% in late-morning trade, making it the weakest performer among several major sectoral indices. The Nifty PSU Bank index also declined 1.17%, while Nifty MidSmall Financial Services and Nifty MidSmall IT and Telecom remained under pressure. IT stocks can be particularly sensitive to global economic expectations, overseas technology spending, currency movements and interest-rate outlooks. The broad-based selling indicates that today's weakness is not confined to a single segment of the market, with weakness in banking and other financial stocks adding to pressure on the benchmark indices. Infosys (down 2.51%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.49%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.14%) were major Nifty drags today, as reported by Business Standard.
Crude oil prices jumped over $1 per barrel following tanker attacks and a lack of progress on a peace agreement between the Trump administration and Iran's leadership. Brent crude was hovering around $89 a barrel, gaining about 0.5% during the session, as reported by Goodreturns. The US meanwhile on Thursday said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and increase economic pressure on the country in response to stalled ceasefire talks. Iran said Qatar was holding three of its pilots who had been missing since March, which Qatar denied, while the United Arab Emirates accused Iran of again attacking one of its vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran-backed Houthis again struck a Red Sea port in Yemen, and in southern Lebanon, 11 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, marking some of the deadliest since a shaky truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect on June 20. In the commodities market, Brent crude for the October 2026 settlement rose 93 cents or 1.05% to $89.45 a barrel, as noted by Business Standard.
The Indian rupee added to the cautious mood by weakening 17 paise to ₹95.59 against the US dollar in early trade. A weaker rupee makes imports more expensive and can add to inflationary concerns when crude oil prices are already elevated. Currency movements are also closely watched by overseas investors because a depreciating rupee can affect the returns they receive from Indian assets after converting them back into their home currencies. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.6500 compared with its close of 95.4200 during the previous trading session, as reported by Business Standard. Overseas markets offered limited support, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan largely unchanged, while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.4%. US equity futures were modestly higher, with S&P 500 futures up 0.1% and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.2%, but these small gains were insufficient to offset concerns surrounding crude oil, the rupee and domestic sectoral selling.
The market breadth was negative with 2,087 shares rising and 2,353 shares falling on the BSE, while 240 shares remained unchanged. The broader market outperformed the frontline indices, with the BSE 150 MidCap Index rising 0.18% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index advancing 0.06%. The India VIX rose more than 2.72% to 11.61, signalling an increase in expected near-term market volatility, as noted by Goodreturns. Although the index remained well below levels associated with severe market stress, its rise suggests that traders are becoming more cautious. The Nifty's immediate range around 24,200-24,400 and the Sensex's 77,400-78,000 zone could remain important for traders. A stabilisation in crude and easing of sectoral selling could help the indices recover, while further weakness in oil and the rupee could keep pressure on equities.
