Indian equity markets opened on a cautiously higher note on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex starting above 78,700, climbing close to 150 points, while the NSE Nifty50 opened nearly flat at 24,627, as of 9:15 AM. According to latest reports, the session was marked by significant volatility with the Sensex hitting a day's high of 79,055.38 in the first half before slipping into red territory in late afternoon, touching a low of 78,285.74 by losing 769.64 points. The market breadth was positive with 1,700 stocks advancing and 1,200 declining on the NSE, while 152 stocks hit their 52-week highs and 33 touched their 52-week lows. The total market capitalisation of NSE-listed stocks stood at ₹492.38 lakh crore. The India VIX, which measures volatility in the market, dropped 2.07% to 11.94, indicating reduced market uncertainty following the RBI's policy decision. The closing auction impact was notably calmer on the third day of SEBI's revised settlement mechanism, with the gap between the 3:15 pm market close and final closing price narrowing significantly compared to the previous two sessions.
The market movement came after the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive time in its latest policy decision, broadly in line with market expectations. As reported by The Hindu, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, unanimously voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and retained its 'neutral' policy stance. The central bank's decision to maintain the current policy stance provided some clarity to investors, though the impact on market sentiment was limited given the modest gains in both indices. The MPC, chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, met from August 3 to August 5 for its third bi-monthly policy review of FY27, with the committee unanimously voting to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25%. The central bank also retained the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate at 5%, while keeping the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate unchanged at 5.5%. Additionally, the RBI marginally raised its economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 6.7% from 6.6% projected in June, and revised its headline inflation forecast to 5% from the earlier estimate of 5.1%. Quarterly CPI inflation projections were placed at 5.3% for Q1, 4.7% for Q2, 5.9% for Q3 and 5.5% for Q4, while core inflation was expected to average 4.3% during the year. Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Investments Limited, noted that "the RBI's MPC has maintained the status quo while marginally upgrading FY27 GDP growth projection, citing a resilient domestic economy."
UltraTech Cement, NTPC, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, InterGlobe Aviation and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major winners in the Sensex pack, helping support benchmark indices through the volatile session, according to The Hindu. Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards. The Nifty Metal index led the gains, rising 1.72% to 13,256.35, with Hindustan Copper (up 8.42%), Hindustan Zinc (up 6.05%), Vedanta (up 2.97%), Welspun Corp (up 2.97%), JSW Steel (up 2.31%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.96%), NMDC (up 1.9%), Lloyds Metals & Energy (up 1.66%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.48%) and Jindal Stainless (up 1.2%) jumping. The Nifty Auto index advanced 1.27%, while Nifty Realty gained 0.84% and PSU Bank rose 0.72%. The Nifty Cement index advanced 0.81%. However, Nifty Media declined 1.58%, Nifty Private Bank fell 0.42%, FMCG declined 0.29%, while Pharma and IT fell 0.13% and 0.16%, respectively. Among Sensex stocks, UltraTech Cement was the top gainer, rising 2.04%, while NTPC gained 1.89%, SBI rose 1.84%, and Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 1.76%. On the losing side, TCS declined 1.31%, HCL Technologies fell 1.26%, and Reliance Industries dropped 1.08%.
Global markets provided support to domestic equities with South Korea's KOSPI jumping 3.76% and Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbing 3.66%, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also ended higher, according to The Hindu. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 1.75% to $80.75 per barrel. Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory, while U.S. markets ended sharply higher on Tuesday. According to Bajaj Broking Research, the Nifty traded with a corrective bias for the second consecutive session but managed to close above the 24,600 level, forming a bullish hammer-like candle on the daily chart. The brokerage noted that immediate support is placed at 24,400-24,500, with a sustained move above this zone leading to a pullback towards 24,720 and 24,800 in the coming sessions. Key short-term support is revised higher towards the 24,200-24,000 levels, while a decisive breakout above 25,000-25,200 is expected in the coming weeks. The Nifty had rallied more than 1,100 points in seven sessions from 23,606 to 24,774 before entering the current consolidation phase. Bank Nifty also traded in a narrow range and formed an inside-bar candle, indicating indecision following the recent phase of profit booking, with the index continuing to consolidate within the broader 56,500-58,700 range that has been in place for the past seven weeks.
India's services sector continued to expand in July, but growth slowed sharply, according to the latest HSBC India Services PMI. As reported by Business Standard, the Business Activity Index fell to 53.3 in July from 57.4 in June, marking the weakest pace of expansion in 53 months, though remaining above the neutral 50.0 level. New business inflows also grew at their slowest rate since February 2022, as firms reported softer demand, intense competition, fewer enquiries and delayed orders. However, export demand remained strong, with companies citing increased business from the UAE, UK and US. Among major segments, only Finance & Insurance recorded faster growth in output and sales. Employment growth improved from June's six-month low, with around 6% of firms increasing payrolls, while 92% reported no change. Lower bookings and weak sales also helped companies reduce backlogs at the fastest pace in nearly five years. Input cost inflation eased to its lowest level since January and a six-month low overall, despite higher fuel, labour, material, technology and transport costs. At the same time, firms raised selling prices at the quickest pace since April. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,446.47 crore on Tuesday (August 4, 2026), according to exchange data. The indices have been facing wide divergence since Monday after stock exchanges introduced a new auction mechanism for shares having futures and options (F&O) contracts, with the Closing Auction Session (CAS) in the equity cash segment becoming operational on Monday (August 3, 2026), introducing a new auction-based mechanism for determining the closing prices of eligible stocks.
