Welcome to Aftermarket Report, a newsletter where we do a quick daily wrap-up of what happened in the markets, both in India and globally.
In our latest episode of In The Money by Zerodha, we explore a question every systematic trader eventually faces: your backtest gave you a beautiful equity curve — but was that curve luck, or edge?
Using Monte Carlo simulations and a real two-year backtest of a 0DTE 920 straddle strategy on Nifty, we show how the same trades can produce very different drawdowns and outcomes simply by changing their order.
The takeaway: your backtest is only one possible path. The real question is whether your strategy can survive the paths you didn’t see.
Markets Today
Nifty opened with a strong 147-point gap up at 24,225, tracking positive global cues after the U.S. Treasury doubled the size of buybacks for long-duration government debt in an effort to support the bond market, helping cool Treasury yields and the Dollar Index. After the gap-up, the index initially slipped towards 24,185–24,190, but quickly recovered and moved back above 24,200. Through the rest of the first hour, Nifty remained choppy but firm, largely oscillating between 24,200 and 24,220.
The index briefly slipped below 24,200 around 11:15 AM before recovering again, and spent the remainder of the first half consolidating around the 24,200–24,220 zone. Momentum picked up sharply after 12:30 PM, with Nifty jumping above 24,240 and eventually testing an intraday high near 24,260 around 1 PM.
In the second half, the index largely held on to these gains, trading in a narrow 24,230-24,250 range for most of the afternoon. Some profit booking emerged after 3 PM, pulling Nifty towards 24,210, but the closing move helped it recover, with the index eventually settling at 24,231.85, marginally above its opening level and over 150 points higher for the day, snapping the recent streak of consecutive declines.
Sectoral Indices Performance
Winners & Losers
Commodities
FII / DII Flows
Here’s the trend of FII-DII activity from the last 5 days:
Thematic Indices
Tijori’s niche indices, where today’s move sorts pockets of the market beyond standard sector baskets. You can also track promoter buying and other interesting stuff, like Capex activity by the companies in the Tijori App’s idea dashboard
Change in OI for the day
The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 25th August:
The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,500, followed by 24,300, indicating potential resistance at the 24,300- 24,400 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,000, followed by 24,200, suggesting support at 24,100-24,000.
Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations; however, generally, an increase in Call OI indicates resistance in a falling market, while an increase in Put OI indicates support in a rising market.
Source: Sensibull
Top Stories in India
India’s infrastructure output grew 5.4% YoY in July, moderating from a revised 6% growth in June. Growth was led by iron ore (+29.5%), cement (+13.1%), electricity (+9%) and coal (+7.6%), while natural gas, crude oil and fertiliser production declined during the month. Dive deeper
Larsen & Toubro secured its third consecutive major order, valued at up to ₹5,000 crore, to design and build an Automated People Mover system for Phase 1 of Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport. The project will be executed in collaboration with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Dive deeper
TPG sold a 6.66% stake in Aster DM Quality Care through an open-market transaction. The investment firm sold the shares at an average price of ₹766.17 per share, bringing the total transaction value to ₹4,451.45 crore. Dive deeper
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals received US FDA approval for its generic version of fluticasone propionate nasal spray, used to treat rhinitis. The product targets the Flonase nasal spray market, which recorded approximately $295 million in annual U.S. sales for the 12 months ended June 2026. Dive deeper
Aditya Birla Capital has entered the gold loan business, with plans to open 200–300 dedicated branches by March 2027. The NBFC aims to scale the network to around 1,000 gold loan branches over the next three years, building a pan-India franchise across high-potential markets. Dive deeper
Top Stories Globally
Total U.S. public debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time, reaching $40.05 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury. This includes $32.27 trillion in Treasury securities held by the public and $7.78 trillion in intragovernmental debt, intensifying concerns over rising interest costs, social-program spending and persistent fiscal deficits. Dive deeper
The U.S. Treasury doubled the size of buybacks for long-duration government debt in an effort to support the bond market and ease the recent surge in yields. The move followed a sharp selloff that pushed the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2007, amid concerns over Middle East tensions, inflation and the deteriorating U.S. fiscal outlook. Dive deeper
Brent crude surged more than 2% to around $93.80 per barrel, its highest level since July 24, after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new economic measures targeting Iran. Dive deeper
Bitcoin surged nearly 11% over 24 hours to around $71,730, its highest level in two months, helping add nearly $190 billion to the overall crypto market capitalisation. Sentiment improved after President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass the Crypto CLARITY Act while addressing technology and crypto industry executives, boosting optimism around a clearer U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets. Dive deeper
Walmart shares fell 6% in premarket trading after quarterly U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, missing expectations of 3.8%, as higher gasoline prices weighed on consumer spending. Despite the miss, U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 24%, and Walmart Connect advertising revenue rose 43%, while the company raised its FY27 net sales growth forecast to 4-5%. Dive deeper
Management Chatter
In this section, we highlight interesting comments from management at major companies and from policymakers in the Indian and Global Economies.
Sunil D'Souza, MD & CEO of Tata Consumer Products on FMCG Industry & consumption trends:
"The whole trend for the FMCG space is very heartening because almost all FMCG majors are showing good topline growth, and it is volume-driven topline growth, which means base consumption increase."
"We expect consumption demand to remain healthy. The better part of the growth is that it is volume-led across categories, which indicates underlying consumer demand."
"Price-driven growth is temporary; volume-driven growth is fundamental growth." - Link
Corporate Actions & Events
Corporate Actions
Published by Zerodha. Not investment advice. Data from NSE, BSE, and MCX.
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