NIFTY50 falls for third straight session; ICICI Bank, Reliance top drags

The Indian equity benchmarks ended on a mixed note on Thursday, August 13. The National Stock Exchange benchmark NIFTY50 index fell for a third straight session while the BSE benchmark 30-share SENSEX snapped its two-day losing streak amid heightened volatility owing to weekly expiry of SENSEX futures and options expiry.

For most part of the day, benchmarks traded lower owing to weakness in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Titan and Infosys.

The SENSEX ended 114 points higher at 78,080 and NIFTY50 index fell 40 points to close at 24,396.

Asian markets ended mixed as United States retail inflation data came on expected lines and dampened hopes of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve going ahead.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.24%, China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.2% and South Korea's KOSPI advanced 3.56%.

Back home, nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended lower led by the NIFTY Metal index's 1% fall. NIFTY Financial Services, Bank, Financial Services 15/50, Pharma, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Healthcare and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.3% and 0.5%.

On the other hand, FMCG, IT, media, realty, consumer durables and auto shares witnessed buying interest.

Among the individual shares, Astral shares closed 9% higher at ₹1,592 after its revenue from operations rose 16% to ₹1,578 crore in the first quarter of current financial year from ₹1,361 crore in the same period last year.

Its EBITDA jumped 26% annually to ₹2,440 crore.

Lenskart shares climbed as much as 6.95% to hit a record high of ₹627.35 after its net profit in June quarter surged by 269% to ₹222 crore from ₹60 crore in the same period last year.

The technology eyewear firm’s revenue from core operations advanced 43% YoY to ₹2,714 crore in the period under review, compared with ₹1,894 crore in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26).

At an operational level, its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), also known as operating profit, stood at ₹589 crore in the June FY27 quarter, marking a 61.37% YoY increase from ₹365 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Hindalco was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3% to close at ₹1,046. ICICI Bank, Ultratech Cement, Grasim, SBI Life, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Adani Enterprises, Titan and Axis Bank also fell between 0.67% and 1.74%.

On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Motors PV, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Shriram Finance, Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Larsen & Toubro and TCS were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,688 shares ended lower while 1,698 closed higher on the NSE.