Oil worries return as Nifty closes below 24,500
Down but not yet over as markets lurk near the past week's range
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.
Markets Today
Nifty opened flat at 24,575, tracking lacklustre global cues and a spike in oil prices after responses from Iran and the US ruled out the possibility of any immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the near term. The index came under selling pressure almost immediately, slipping below 24,500 within the opening minutes and gradually drifting towards the 24,470–24,480 zone in the first hour.
Through the rest of the first half, the index remained under pressure and touched an intraday low near 24,430 around noon.
In the second half, Nifty attempted multiple recoveries but remained largely confined to the 24,440–24,470 range, with every bounce struggling to gain momentum. After another dip towards 24,440 around 2:30 PM, the index recovered a bit in the final hour and eventually closed at 24,471.70, around 100 points below its opening level, as higher oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on sentiment.
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 11th August:
The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,500, followed by 24,700, indicating potential resistance at the 24,700 -24,800 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,000, followed by 24,500, suggesting support at 24,400-24,300.
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
The Government has approved field trials of one billion polymer banknotes in ₹10 and ₹20 denominations, Parliament was informed. The move follows a proposal submitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), based on the recommendation of its Central Board, paving the way for testing polymer notes as an alternative to traditional paper currency. Dive deeper
Regulatory measures introduced by SEBI helped reduce individual investors’ net losses in equity derivatives to ₹91,685 crore in FY26, from ₹1.12 lakh crore in FY25, the Finance Ministry told Parliament. The number of unique individual investors trading derivatives also fell to 78.6 lakh from 98.1 lakh, although the average loss per F&O trader increased slightly to ₹1.16 lakh from ₹1.14 lakh. Dive deeper
Siemens India reported a sharp rise in Q1FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹2,143 crore from ₹423 crore a year ago, largely due to ₹1,800 crore profit from discontinued operations related to its Low Voltage Motors business. Revenue rose 14.8% YoY to ₹4,714 crore, while underlying profitability faced pressure from higher material costs, commodity price volatility and foreign exchange movements. Dive deeper
MRF reported a 1.3% YoY decline in Q1FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹495 crore, as higher raw material costs weighed on profitability. Revenue from operations, however, rose 9.6% YoY to ₹8,416 crore, compared with ₹7,676 crore in the year-ago quarter. Dive deeper
Zydus Lifesciences reported a 36% YoY decline in Q1FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹940 crore, despite revenue rising 22% YoY to ₹8,017 crore. Profitability remained under pressure during the quarter, while the company noted that tax expenses were not directly comparable across periods due to adjustments related to its adoption of the concessional tax regime. Dive deeper
Top Stories Globally
Crude oil pared earlier gains to trade around $82 per barrel, after Qatar said negotiations between Oman and Iran were at an advanced stage, raising hopes of progress toward an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz. However, fresh demands from President Donald Trump complicated negotiations, keeping uncertainty around the strategic waterway elevated. Dive deeper
Nvidia has partnered with six major financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms aimed at mobilising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure. CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia has the option to backstop up to $125 billion, or 25% of potential deals, highlighting the scale of financing required to support the global AI infrastructure buildout. Dive deeper
China’s domestic car sales fell for a 10th consecutive month in July, declining 21.1% YoY to 1.47 million vehicles, as weak household spending and intense competition continued to weigh on demand. In contrast, vehicle exports surged 88.2% to 923,000 units, highlighting Chinese automakers’ accelerating push into overseas markets to offset weakness at home. Dive deeper
Aluminium futures rose to $3,380 per tonne, their highest level in nearly two months, amid concerns over tightening global supply. The rally was supported by disruptions at Brazil’s Alunorte plant, the world’s largest alumina refinery outside China, which was forced to cut operations to half capacity due to a shortage of natural gas. Dive deeper
Intel raised $20 billion through an upsized share offering, exceeding its initial target of $15 billion, as the chipmaker looks to fund the costly expansion of its contract chip manufacturing business. The shares were priced at $95 apiece, a 2.6% discount to the previous close, with Intel capitalising on a recent stock rally driven by optimism around its turnaround efforts. 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.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on BRICS nations discussing linking payment systems and CBDCs:
“Cross-border payments are an area of interest for all of us, including the BRICS, because we feel there is a lot of scope for reducing cost.”
"Various options are on the table, but it is still at the discussion stage, including CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) and linkages of fast payment systems." - Link
Management at Hitachi Energy India expects battery energy storage to become a scalable growth opportunity as the technology matures and localisation improves:
“Right now, the margin profile is affected by the fact that this technology needs to mature, and we also need to undertake significant localisation. Over a period of time, these margins will become similar to the margins we have in the rest of the business. The key point is that this is a scalable version that is easy to fit and easy to deploy. There is significant revenue potential going forward because we add a substantial digital layer to the solution, enabling us to monitor the system and provide digital services going forward.” - Link
Corporate Actions & Events
Corporate Actions
Published by Zerodha. Not investment advice. Data from NSE, BSE, and MCX.
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