Indian equities struggled to maintain opening gains on Tuesday as persistent concerns over elevated crude oil prices and global bond yields ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting weighed on sentiment. According to reports from LiveMint, both benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex turned red after opening higher, with the broader market remaining under pressure as Brent crude traded at $107. Damage to the Saudi East-West oil pipeline following a Houthi attack added to market concerns, with Yemeni officials confirming that Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis had launched another wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia. The market reversed early gains and is now trading in the red, with Nifty struggling below 23,400 while Sensex is down nearly 100 points in midday trade.
Solar Industries India shares witnessed sharp volatility, initially climbing to a 52-week high of ₹22,700 before plunging as much as 11% in intraday trade following the announcement of a massive acquisition deal. As reported by The Financial Express, the stock price is under severe selling pressure as the market digests the earning impact of such a massive deal. The stock's dramatic swings came after Solar Industries announced on Monday that it would acquire South Africa-based Omnia Holdings Ltd in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.355 billion (₹12,951 crore). However, Goldman Sachs has upgraded the target for Solar Industries, seeing scope for a 25% boost to FY28 earnings as a result of this deal, providing some positive sentiment despite the immediate selling pressure.
The tech sector emerged as the standout performer with the Nifty IT Index up nearly 4% in intraday trade, led by major heavyweights like HCLTech, TCS, and Infosys. According to The Financial Express, tech stocks are holding up despite broader market weakness, with Tech Mahindra and Wipro also clocking 3% plus gains. Several midcap names like Mphasis and LTM are also up over 4% each. This upbeat sentiment is attributed to the changing narrative on AI, as concerns about rapid disruption due to AI-led development eased, leading to bargain buying in several tech counters.
Bharat Electronics declined 4.2% to hit a day's low of ₹388.20, despite the Defence Acquisition Council clearing ₹1.1 lakh crore in new defence deals with 98% of orders set to go to Indian companies. According to LiveMint, BEL remains a core beneficiary of India's defence-electronics indigenisation drive, with Jefferies describing it as the market leader in Indian defence electronics and its current order book standing at 2.6 times FY26 revenue. The stock has declined 5.5% in 1 month and 12% in 6 months, though it has delivered multibagger returns over 5 years with a 460% gain.
Coforge remained in the red despite sector-wide optimism, continuing to see selling pressure after two top-level management exits within a week. As reported by The Financial Express, the board explained gaps in disclosure of Board evaluation findings following the resignations of the Chairman and NRC chairman. However, Jefferies sees limited impact of these developments on Coforge's growth strategy and has maintained their 'Buy' recommendation on the stock. HDFC Bank gained nearly 2% in intraday trade after names of 2 possible CEO candidates were submitted to the RBI, with several large brokerage houses like Bernstein, Macquarie, Jefferies and Nomura giving a thumbs up to the development. Shriram Finance fell over 3% as US yield spiked 5% and India's August retail inflation jumped to 8-month highs, kindling concerns about rate hike in the forthcoming RBI policy.
