NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on August 24

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Monday, August 24, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar advanced 97 points to 24,383 despite negative cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a second straight session on Friday, August 21, but ended on a flat note.

Gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Electronics were offset by losses in Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and HCL Technologies.

The SENSEX ended three points higher at 77,540.83 and NIFTY50 index advanced 20 points to close at 24,252.

Asian markets

Asian share markets were trading lower as investors awaited details of threatened US sanctions on Iran due later in the session, while the Canadian dollar dipped as a trade war loomed with its southern neighbour.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.05%, China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.9%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 2.14% and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 2.33%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended higher on Friday. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.98%, S&P 500 index advanced 0.43% and tech heavy Nasdaq index rose 0.4%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹542.71 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,124.14 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹23,544 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

Grasim, the holding company of the flagship Aditya Birla Group firms such as UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Capital, Birla Opus, Aditya Birla Renewables and Birla Pivot, had reported its "highest-ever" consolidated revenue of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in FY26.

The mobilisation marks the first milestone in IIFCL's broader international fund-raising programme, following government approval to raise about $1.8 billion through ECBs, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

The company is pursuing opportunities across international financial markets with a focus on competitive pricing, prudent risk management and mobilisation of long-term resources to support India's infrastructure financing requirements.

"Gold loan is safe lending for banks...it is not a consumption loan, but mostly it is income-generating and also helps small businesses to grow. Last year, we saw very significant growth of 30% in the segment due to a jump in gold prices. It will be slower this year as there is a 30% decline in gold prices," Indian Bank MD and CEO Binod Kumar told PTI in an interaction.

This growth would come from tonnage, he said, adding that the gold loan segment is likely to grow about 20%.

"Upon conclusion of the inspection, the company has been issued a Form 483 with 4 (Four) observations. The company believes that the observations are procedural in nature and is confident of addressing these observations comprehensively within stipulated timelines," it added.