NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on August 17

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Monday, August 17, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar fell 50 points to 24,399 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

The SENSEX and NIFTY50 tanked on Friday as geopolitical uncertainties amid recent attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, along with foreign fund outflows, weighed on investor sentiment.

The SENSEX declined as much as 0.5% to hit an intraday low of 77,684.37. Meanwhile, the NIFTY50 dropped as much as 0.4% to reach the session’s low of 24,296.80.

The NIFTY 50 fell by 29.85 points or 0.12% to close at 24,366, while the SENSEX slumped by 70.71 points or 0.1% to end at 78,009.25.

Asian markets

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher on Monday as oil prices remained largely unchanged around $90 per barrel as lack of progress towards ending the Iran war kept investors in side lines.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.01%, China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.63%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.56% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 2.42%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended lower on Friday after a report suggested that Americans unexpectedly cut their spending in July by the biggest amount in more than a year.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2%, S&P 500 index fell 0.17% and tech heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.28%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹508 crore on Friday and domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹356 crore, as per NSE data.

Stocks to watch

As part of the partnership, Reliance and Rolls-Royce will explore the formation of a dedicated aerospace gas turbine complex that will be a centre of excellence for power and propulsion technology in India, the companies said in a joint statement.

RIL further said that the proposed partnership will offer a compelling proposition for joint development of the AMCA engine in India, bringing together world-leading technology and industrial execution capabilities.

During the first quarter of this fiscal year, Lodha Developers launched only one housing project in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprising 4 lakh sq ft area and revenue potential of ₹330 crore.

According to its latest investors presentation, Lodha Developers has a strong launch pipeline for the remaining three quarters of this fiscal year.

As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), all listed companies must maintain an MPS of 25%.

"We have got board approval for fundraise through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and others means as part of effort to bring down the government holding in a phased manner," Punjab & Sind Bank MD and CEO Swarup Kumar Saha told PTI in an interview.

In addition, the public sector lender may mop up another $600 million via ECB before the Reserve Bank of India's deadline of December 31, 2026.

"The bank is considering raising $400 million via the ECB route as early as this week...the overseas fund raise would come at a very competitive rate," Indian Bank MD and CEO Binod Kumar told PTI in an interview.

Amber Enterprises India Executive Chairman and CEO and whole-time director Jasbir Singh, during the company's earnings call, said that the firm expects to start with production of 8 million units of Oppo group smartphone brands and scale it twofold to around 16 million units in the second year of operations.

The investment will increase the company's cold rolling capacity from 2.05 MTPA to 2.67 MTPA by FY28, he said in the company's annual report for FY26.

Besides upstream, the company is also making significant investments to build up its downstream capabilities, the industry executive said.

The US approval removes a key hurdle for ONGC's Venezuelan investments and could pave the way for the state-run explorer to expand production, sign new agreements and take over operatorship of some projects from Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, Anupam Agarwal, director-finance at ONGC, said at an investor call post first quarter earnings announcement.

PM Modi, delving into external and internal security threats facing the nation, announced that a comprehensive network of civil defence personnel will be developed.