Last-hour rebound rescues Nifty; closes above 24,400

Market recovers nearly 170 points from lows

Aug 12, 2026

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 break down how the stock market actually works as an auction, from the moment you place a buy or sell order to how that single action moves the price of a stock.

Most traders think placing an order is simple. Hit buy, hit sell, done. But underneath every trade is a two-sided continuous auction running every second the market is open. There’s a limit order book stacking up bids and offers, a bid-ask spread telling you exactly how far apart buyers and sellers are, market orders that sweep through resting liquidity in a flash, and an aggressor who decides to stop waiting and cross the gap.

And when one side disappears completely? That’s when you get a circuit. All of this, the orders, the book, the price movement, the circuits, it’s what people mean when they say order flow, and now you’ll actually know what that means.

Check out In The Money

Markets Today

Nifty opened absolutely flat at 24,472, tracking lacklustre global cues, while oil prices remained elevated amid the continuing stalemate in talks. Selling pressure quickly took over, dragging Nifty below 24,400 towards 24,370 within the first hour.

A brief recovery towards 24,400 around 10:30 AM failed to sustain, and weakness intensified thereafter, with the index slipping towards the 24,270–24,280 zone by noon. Through the rest of the first half, Nifty remained under pressure and touched an intraday low near 24,265 shortly after noon.

The second half initially remained subdued, with the index consolidating largely between 24,275 and 24,300 until around 2:30 PM. Buying interest returned in the final hour, triggering a steady recovery towards 24,375, although the index remained well below its opening level. A sharp closing move then lifted Nifty further, with the benchmark eventually settling at 24,435.95, around 35 points below its opening level and significantly off the day's lows.

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 18th August:

The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,500, followed by 24,600, indicating potential resistance at the 24,600 -24,700 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,000, followed by 24,300, suggesting support at 24,300-24,200.

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

Management Chatter

In this section, we highlight interesting comments from management at major companies and from policymakers in the Indian and Global Economies.

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on CAS framework and detailed paper on retail derivatives losses:

“CAS is a major micro-structure reform, and we were actually lagging behind in this regard,”
“No, we haven't observed any manipulation yet, but we are continuously monitoring the data.”
“We expect to release this document within the next 8–10 days; it will provide a more granular understanding of the participants involved. It is not just retail investors; even sophisticated investors are incurring losses. However, gains and losses are inherent market risks that people must accept.” - Link

Management of Amara Raja Batteries expects BESS economics to broadly resemble its existing battery-pack operations, with localisation offering potential upside over time:

“In terms of operating margin, it may mimic the way the current pack business is performing, at around 5-6% or 6-7%. As we localize more and more components, the margin profile might change somewhat, but it will continue to have operating margin levels of that kind. The EBITDA margin could be around 7-8%, while a conservative margin could be around 5-6%.” - Link

Management of Manappuram Finance says that the portfolio has already shifted materially toward larger borrowers, with 49% of gold loans now carrying ticket sizes above ₹3 lakh: