Market Wrap, August 14: Indices end with marginal gains; NIFTY50 ends at 24,631, SENSEX up 58 points; Wipro, Eternal top gainers

After a volatile session, the Indian stock market closed with marginal gains on Thursday, August 14, amid support from banking and IT stocks. Investor sentiment remained positive following July wholesale inflation data and global ratings agency S&P upgrading India’s rating with a stable outlook.

Meanwhile, S&P on Thursday upgraded India's sovereign credit rating to 'BBB' with a stable outlook after a gap of nearly 19 years. The impact of US tariffs on the Indian economy will be "manageable", S&P said, adding that a 50% tariff on US exports (if imposed) will not pose a "material drag" on growth.

The equity benchmark indices snapped its 6-week losing streak, with NIFTY50 regaining last week’s losses. Both SENSEX and the 50-share index rose 1% each this week.

However, the market participants are waiting for the US and Russia talks for further cues. The US President Donald Trump will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska, aiming to broker a ceasefire in the more-than-three-year conflict in Ukraine.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹3,644.43 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹5,623.79 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, after three days of rally, most of the Asian indices closed lower on Thursday as investors bet on a Federal Reserve rate cut next month.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.52% lower, and the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.46%, while South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.04% on Thursday.

On Wall Street, the benchmark indices S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new closing highs for the second straight day on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 463.66 points, or 1.04%, to close at 44,922.27; the S&P 500 rose 20.82 points, or 0.32%, to end at 6,466.58; and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 31.24 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 21,713.14.

The Indian stock market will remain closed on August 15 (Friday), on account of Independence Day.

As many as 3,046 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,153 advanced and 1,786 stocks declined, while 107 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market breadth was in favour of declines.

A total of 59 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 75 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 75 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 68 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹441.65 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 12.36 levels, rising 1.77%.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.38% to end at 17,547.45 levels, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index closed 0.31% lower at 56,504.25 levels.

Wipro was the most contributing stock, surging 2.01%, followed by Eternal (1.71%), Infosys (1.50%), HDFC Life Insurance (1.47%) and Asian Paints (1.19%).

On the flip side, Tata Steel took the lead among losers, falling 2.81% on the 50-share index. Adani Ports (-1.38%), Hero MotoCorp (-1.27%), Tech Mahindra (-1.2%) and Tata Consumer Products (-1.01%) were the other laggards.