Equities snap losing streak; Rupee steady, bonds weaken as crude nears $94

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

Poonam Gupta/LinkedIn

RBI Press Conference. August 5, 2026.

By Dehuti Jani

Dehuti Jani is an experienced project manager who also works as an independent financial journalist.

August 20, 2026 at 12:57 PM IST

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

Indian equity benchmarks snapped their losing streak on Thursday, led by IT and financial stocks and tracking a global rebound after the US Treasury announced measures to support the long end of the bond market. The Nifty 50 rose 153.55 points, or 0.64%, to 24,231.85, ending a seven-session losing streak, while the Sensex gained 628.04 points, or 0.82%, to 77,537.72, reversing four consecutive sessions of losses.

Fourteen of the 16 major sectors advanced, while the Nifty MidCap and SmallCap indices rose 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively. The Nifty IT index gained 0.8%, taking its two-session rise to 1.5% after losing around 4% over the previous three sessions.

Eternal, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the top Nifty gainers, while Nifty Realty outperformed with a nearly 2% rise. The rebound in equities followed a global recovery after the US Treasury announced measures to increase buybacks of longer-dated government debt, helping ease pressure in global bond markets.

The Indian rupee remained range bound as sustained Reserve Bank of India intervention continued to anchor the currency despite mixed global cues. The rupee closed at 95.7050 per US dollar, marginally stronger than 95.7525 in the previous session. Brent crude, however, rose more than 2% to around 93.8 dollars per barrel, limiting the currency's upside and keeping imported inflation concerns elevated.

Indian government bond yields rose sharply as crude approached $94 per barrel and hawkish RBI monetary policy minutes revived expectations of a possible rate hike as early as in December. The benchmark 6.94%, 2036 bond yield ended at 6.8709%, from 6.8170% previously, its highest since June 12. Brent crude rose for a fifth consecutive session amid fresh threats of US economic action against Iran and concerns that the impasse over the Strait of Hormuz could persist.

Top Movers of the day

Infosys gained 0.86% to ₹1,129.40, as investors accumulated large-cap IT shares following the sector's sharp sell-off in previous sessions. The stock was supported by the broader IT rebound, with no fresh company-specific trigger reported.

MCX jumped 4.94% to around ₹3,120 after gold, silver and copper futures strengthened. The rally in precious and industrial metals followed a surprise US Treasury liquidity-support announcement that pushed bond yields and the dollar lower.

Rail Vikas Nigam gained 2.13% to ₹228.25 , after receiving a ₹1.61 billion letter of acceptance from East Coast Railway. The order involves providing MSDAC systems to improve train-detection reliability across stations in the KUR division.

Credent Connect N Care made a strong SME-IPO debut, opening at ₹359, up 89.9% from its 189 rupees issue price. The share price ended at ₹377, up 93.27%. The listing premium reflected strong subscription demand and positive grey-market expectations.

Bajaj Finance rose 1.65% to nearly ₹1,097, as NBFCs benefited from a recovery in financial stocks. The move was driven mainly by sector-wide short-covering and improved risk appetite rather than a fresh company-specific announcement.

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services added about 6.7% to ₹198.52, extending its three-session rally to roughly 16%. The move followed reports that an entity linked to investor Vijay Kedia had bought a 1.48% stake through a bulk deal at 164.72 rupees a share.

Power Finance Corporation fell 2.9% to ₹363.60 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its target price to ₹410 from ₹510, triggering selling pressure in the power-finance counter.

REC declined about 2.4% to ₹328.90 after Morgan Stanley also downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. The brokerage cut its target price to ₹360 from ₹430, citing concerns over loan growth and the outlook for the power-financing business.

Power Grid Corporation rose marginally by 0.63% to ₹265.15, mainly supported by its defensive utility profile, and continued physical asset growth in national transmission lines in renewable energy integration.

Futures & Options

The Nifty August 2026 futures contract closed at 24,290.50, a premium of 58.65 points to the Nifty 50 cash index, which ended at 24,231.85. In the cash market, the Nifty 50 advanced 153.55 points, or 0.64%, snapping a seven-session losing streak.

The India VIX fell 6.57% to 10.58, signalling a sharp easing in near-term volatility expectations as equities rebounded. HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys were the most actively traded individual stock futures contracts on the NSE. The August 2026 F&O series will expire on 25 August 2026.

Bonds
Indian government bonds extended their decline as rising crude prices and hawkish RBI MPC minutes reinforced expectations of a possible rate hike by December. The benchmark 6.94%, 2036 gilt fell to 100.47 rupees from 100.85 rupees, taking its yield to 6.8709% from 6.8170% on Wednesday. The 10-year yield touched 6.87%, its highest since June 12, as Brent crude approached $94 a barrel amid renewed US-Iran tensions and uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz. Persistent imported inflation risks further cloud the bond market outlook.

Forex
The Indian rupee remained range-bound on Thursday as sustained RBI intervention continued to anchor the currency, limiting the impact of mixed global cues. The rupee closed at 95.7050 per US dollar, marginally stronger than 95.7525 in the previous session. While a broadly weaker dollar supported most Asian currencies, the rupee's upside remained limited, with speculative positioning constrained by RBI limits on net open positions and the underlying bias still tilted towards depreciation.

Brent crude futures rose more than 2% to around 93.8 dollars per barrel, adding pressure on the rupee through higher imported energy costs. US President Donald Trump also warned of economic consequences for countries providing "any type of lifeline" to Iran, as uncertainty over the conflict and the Strait of Hormuz continued to weigh on sentiment.

Crypto
The crypto market rallied on Thursday with Bitcoin sharply up, leading a broad recovery in cryptocurrencies as improving risk appetite and favourable US regulatory signals supported digital assets. Bitcoin climbed 11.28% to above $71,700, its highest level since early June, while Ethereum surged 18.57% to $2,278, a 15-month high. Solana also advanced 13.54%.

The rally followed US President Donald Trump's call for Congress to pass the Clarity Act, alongside his meeting with cryptocurrency executives including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Crypto sentiment was further supported by the US Treasury's decision to double its long-term debt buyback programme, which triggered a sharp decline in Treasury yields and improved broader risk appetite.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures were little changed early Thursday after Wall Street ended higher in the previous session, supported by a pullback in Treasury yields. S&P 500 futures were just above the flatline, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.33% and Dow Jones futures fell 35 points, or 0.07%.

Longer-dated US Treasury yields retreated from multi-year highs after the government announced plans to more than double buybacks of 10-, 20- and 30-year debt over the coming months. The move followed a surge in the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2007 earlier this week. Stock traders will focus on turned their attention to retail company Walmart’s earnings and weekly jobless claims data.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury yields reversed early gains in Thursday's session as selling pressure returned despite the US Treasury Department's decision to double liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated debt. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose to around 4.67%, giving back its early-session decline, while the 30-year Treasury yield climbed to approximately 5.23%. The long-end remained particularly volatile after the 30-year yield hit a 19-year high of 5.33% earlier this week.

Persistent geopolitical tensions involving Iran, elevated crude oil prices and a heavy supply of corporate debt continued to pressure longer-duration Treasuries. Traders also remained focused on inflation risks and the expanding US fiscal deficit, keeping term premia elevated despite the Treasury's buyback measures.

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