Nifty falls for fifth straight session, slips below 24,300
Rising oil prices & lacklustre domestic sentiment continues
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 celebrate one year of In The Money with Sandeep Rao, the host behind the channel.
Sandeep looks back at his journey in the markets, from his early days of investing and discovering derivatives to developing his systematic approach to trading.
He also shares how his thinking has evolved over the years, what he has learned from the traders and investors he once looked up to, how AI has changed the way he learns, and why trading is about much more than simply having a set of rules.
Markets Today
Nifty opened with a small 23-point gap down at 24,343, tracking shaky global cues as range-bound global equities, rising oil prices and weakness carried over from domestic markets last week weighed on sentiment. The index came under pressure immediately after the open, slipping below 24,300 within the first half hour.
A couple of early recovery attempts failed to sustain, and selling intensified after 10 AM, dragging Nifty towards the 24,240–24,250 zone. The weakness continued through the rest of the first half, with the index touching an intraday low near 24,230 around 11:20 AM.
From there, Nifty staged a steady recovery, reclaiming 24,300 around 12:30 PM before the rebound gathered pace. In the second half, buying strengthened sharply, pushing the index above 24,340 and towards an intraday high near 24,360 after 1:30 PM. Nifty then consolidated largely between 24,325 and 24,350 for most of the remaining session, with another attempt towards the day’s highs around 3 PM.
However, a sharp closing move erased much of the recovery, with Nifty eventually settling at 24,287.65, around midpoint from its day’s low & opening level.
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 24,400, followed by 24,500, indicating potential resistance at the 24,400 -24,500 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,300, followed by 24,000, suggesting support at 24,200-24,100.
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 e-commerce order volumes jumped 31% YoY during the 2026 Independence Day sale period, according to Unicommerce data covering August 6–14. Gross merchandise value (GMV) rose 30% YoY, pointing to strong online consumer spending during the festive sale period. Dive deeper
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has approved nearly 31 applications involving investments of ₹7,877 crore under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS). Dive deeper
The RBI will close its special USD-INR forex swap facility for mobilising FCNR(B) deposits on August 31, 2026, following strong foreign currency inflows. The scheme has attracted $56.85 billion so far, led overwhelmingly by $52.30 billion through FCNR(B) deposits, while overseas foreign currency borrowings contributed $2.81 billion and ECBs another $1.74 billion. Dive deeper
India’s electric car exports surged more than 16-fold YoY to $369 million in Q1FY27, from just $22.2 million a year ago, driven by strong demand from European markets, particularly Spain and the UK. Export volumes jumped to 10,802 vehicles from 1,309 units, highlighting rapidly growing overseas demand for India-made EVs. Dive deeper
ONGC can resume full operations in Venezuela after its overseas arm, ONGC Videsh, received a licence from the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC, easing restrictions imposed by U.S. sanctions. The approval gives ONGC greater flexibility to expand production, enter into new agreements, and potentially take direct operator control of key projects from Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA as per ET reports. Dive deeper
Top Stories Globally
Brent crude oil rose above $89 per barrel as renewed tensions in the Middle East raised concerns over potential supply disruptions. Fighting in Lebanon, attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations weighed on hopes for a swift resolution, keeping geopolitical risk elevated and supporting oil prices. Dive deeper
German companies cut direct investment in the U.S. by nearly two-thirds YoY to €4.3 billion ($5 billion) in the first half of 2026, the lowest level in three years, according to the German Economic Institute. The sharp decline came amid heightened policy and trade uncertainty under the Trump administration. Dive deeper
The euro strengthened to around $1.160, its highest level in two months, as diverging interest-rate expectations supported the currency. Markets have scaled back expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike, while investors are pricing in around an 84% probability of a 25-bps ECB rate hike in September, highlighting widening monetary policy divergence between the U.S. and Euro Area. Dive deeper
China’s economy lost momentum in July, as weak domestic demand and extreme weather disruptions weighed on activity. Industrial output growth slowed to 4.5% YoY from 5.3% in June, missing expectations of 4.8%, adding to concerns after Q2 economic growth fell to a three-and-a-half-year low and increasing pressure on policymakers for further stimulus. Dive deeper
Japan’s economy slowed sharply in Q2, with annualised GDP growth easing to 1.1% from a revised 1.9%, missing expectations of 2%, as household and business spending weakened. Despite softer growth, long-term bond yields climbed to a three-decade high as investors focused on rising inflation risks and the possibility of a Bank of Japan rate hike next month. 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.
SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on the newly implemented closing auction session (CAS):
“CAS is here to stay for sure; only we will see if there are certain constraints or certain issues that we can improve. Certainly, we will improve.”
“It is a major microstructure. When there is something going on for years, people think that it will never come—the change will never come. And then therefore they do not give total energy into learning a new system. There are some initial teething problems whenever you come up with something major—because people tend to believe that it will be postponed.”
“It really depends on our success in terms of attracting FPIs, allowing the passive investing, which is already 30 per cent of the market, and we cannot just put out this thing on this issue just because some people want to do options trading in the way they want to do options trading,” - Link
Corporate Actions & Events
Corporate Actions
Published by Zerodha. Not investment advice. Data from NSE, BSE, and MCX.
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