NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on August 20

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Thursday, August 20, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar surged 119 points to 24,236 amid positive cues from global markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark NIFTY50 index falling for a seventh straight session. Investor sentiment remained subdued as crude oil prices surged in global markets stoking fears of inflation, analysts said.

The SENSEX fell as much as 413 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,025 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and ITC.

The SENSEX ended 326 points lower at 76,910 and NIFTY50 index declined 77 points to close at 24,078.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday tracking an overnight surge in US stocks. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.06%, China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.7% and South Korea's KOSPI index climbed 5.86%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended higher on Wednesday after the US Treasury Department announced a move that could ease pressure coming from the bond market.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, S&P 500 index advanced 0.21% and tech heavy Nasdaq rose 0.16%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹408 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹3,973.72 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹23,320 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.