NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on August 19

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Wednesday, August 19, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar fell 24 points to 24,207 amid weak cues from global markets tracking higher crude and surging bond yields.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Tuesday as surging crude prices in international markets dented investor sentiment.

The NIFTY50 index dropped for a sixth straight session while SENSEX dropped nearly 500 points dragged down by heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The SENSEX ended 493 points lower at 77,235 and NIFTY50 index dropped 133 points to close at day's lowest level of 24,155.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading sharply lower as rising bond yields and crude oil prices revived inflation fears. Selling pressure in chip makers added to weakness in markets across the region, analysts noted.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1.86%, South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 5.42%, China's Shanghai Composite index crashed 5.46% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.01%.

Wall Street update

Overnight, US stocks ended lower tracking a selloff in artificial intelligence shares.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.22%, S&P 500 index declined 0.7% and tech heavy Nasdaq plunged 1.33%.

Crude oil update

Brent crude futures rose as much as 1.12% to $92.04 per barrel on supply uncertainty as conflicting messages from Iran and United States whether the Strait of Hormuz is open for transit.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran’s assertion that the critical waterway remained shut to shipping, CNBC reported.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹1,651.53 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,579.31 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹20,394 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The company is progressing towards meeting approximately 70% of its overall power requirements through renewable energy by FY2027-28, it said.

Across its business units in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, Hindustan Zinc has continued to strengthen its renewable power generation capabilities. During FY'26, the company generated 892 million units of green power, compared with 632 million units in FY'25.

The company has entered into a binding agreement with Zettaone Technologies India Pvt Ltd for the proposed acquisition, Jubilant Ingrevia Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Zettaone Technologies, co-founded by Harikrishnan, Sureshkumar, Prabu and Arunkumar, is an electronics design and manufacturing platform with integrated capabilities in electronics/semicon industry.

The shareholders approved a special resolution in this regard, Swiggy informed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The Indian owned and controlled company status would allow Swiggy to directly own and sell inventory through its quick commerce brand Instamart, a move expected to improve margins and strengthen supply chain control.

Other foreign investors that bought shares included Ghisallo Capital Management, Oxbow Capital Management, North Rock Capital Management, Viridian Asset Management, Vittoria Fund-OC - a hedge fund owned by Pathstone Family Office LLC, and Integrated Core Strategies (Asia) Pte Ltd.

These entities acquired a total of 1,92,10,110 equity shares, representing a 3% stake in the Noida-based One97 Communications Ltd, according to the block deal data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The company currently has 28 locations in West Bengal, including four in Kolkata, and plans to add another 26 locations in the state by March 2027, of which four are expected to be in Kolkata, Raju Dodti, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, L&T Finance said.

The transfer of the Lending Service Provider (LSP) business, which includes the migration of associated employees, was executed on a "slump sale" basis.

According to a regulatory filing, the consideration for the sale will be discharged through the issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) by MDSPL to the parent company, based on the book value of assets and liabilities as of August 18, 2026.