Nifty dips modestly, small‑cap indices rise on Thursday

Mumbai, August 13 — On Thursday, the Indian equity market operated within a limited range. The benchmark Sensex slipped to 78,079.96, a decline of 113.61 points or 0.15 per cent, and the Nifty fell 40.10 points, closing at 24,395.85, down 0.16 per cent.

The Nifty India Defense index outperformed with a 1.55 per cent gain, while Nifty Realty added 0.97 per cent, making them the day’s top performers. Gains were also recorded in FMCG, consumer durables, information technology, consumption, media, PSE and auto sectors. On the downside, Nifty Metal, private banks, commodities, oil & gas, financial services and PSU banks lost ground.

In the mid‑ and small‑cap space, the Nifty Midcap 100 rose 97.15 points (0.15 per cent) to 64,121.55 and the Nifty Smallcap index increased by 53.45 points (0.27 per cent) to settle at 19,875.

Among the Sensex constituents, stocks such as Indigo, NTPC, BEL, L&T, Hindustan Unilever, Eternl, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Trent, HCL Technologies, ITC, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and Mahindra & Mahindra recorded gains. Losers included ICICI Bank, Titan, Ultratech Cement, Infosys, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Axis Bank.

Analysts attributed the market’s steadiness to lower‑than‑expected inflation numbers in both the US and India, which have lifted investor sentiment and may allow the Federal Reserve and RBI to stay on a cautious policy path. However, the backdrop of elevated crude oil prices and geopolitical volatility in the Middle East continues to limit aggressive risk‑taking.

They added that strong earnings reports are underpinning confidence in domestic demand and corporate resilience, helping to neutralise external shocks. The market’s near‑term direction will likely be determined by changes in energy markets, geopolitical developments and the consistency of foreign capital inflows.