NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on August 25

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Tuesday, August 25, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar declined 49 points to 24,160 amid negative cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning streak on Monday, August 24, a day ahead of monthly expiry of NIFTY50 and stock futures and option contracts as investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's press conference due later in the day to explain new US sanctions against Iran.

The benchmarks erased intraday gains and SENSEX fell as much as 588 points from the day's highest level and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,144 after hitting an intraday high of 24,313 in morning deals.

The SENSEX ended 172 points lower at 77,369 and NIFTY50 index dropped 33 points to close at 24,219.

Asian markets

Iran, however, promised to retaliate against expanded US economic sanctions that the Americans said would cut off Iran's economic lifeline, with Tehran expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.25% and South Korea's KOSPI Index tumbled 2.01%.

Wall Street update

US stocks mostly ended lower on Monday as investor sentiment took a knock tracking selling pressure in technology shares and trade tensions between United States and Canada.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26%, S&P 500 index fell 0.28% and tech heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.76%.

Crude oil update

Crude oil prices declined by more than $2 per barrel as investors took profits after recent gains and shrugged off new US sanctions on Iran.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹1,181.66 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,493.41 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹25,518 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

As part of the deal, TCS will establish a dedicated AI Mobility Centre of Excellence for Porsche to drive innovation across manufacturing, engineering, operations and customer experience. TCS, through its subsidiary, will acquire 100% of MHP Management- und IT-Beratung GmbH (MHP), Porsche’s Germany-based management and IT consulting subsidiary. The proposed partnership and acquisition remain subject to regulatory approvals, TCS said in a press release.

The government has fixed ₹514 as the floor prices for the sale of shares which is at a discount of 10.45% from its previous day's closing price.

The Income Tax authorities had raised a demand notice of over ₹572 crore to the company in the fiscal year 2024-25, which the company has challenged in court and received a stay order.

"During the year ended March 31, 2026, the Income Tax authorities made certain additions to the taxable income declared for AY 2023-24. Consequently, a demand of ₹14,997.38 million was raised, along with a show-cause notice for initiation of penalty proceedings under Sections 274 and 270A of the Income-tax Act, 1961," the report said.

In a statement, the company said it has "commissioned India's first portable rig for gold and critical mineral exploration."

The rigs have been deployed at two of Vedanta's flagship exploration projects in Chhattisgarh dedicated to gold and exploration of critical minerals such as nickel, chromium, and platinum group elements, it said.

The company also sounded optimistic about the sales in the second half and the festive season.

The new Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 125 comes at an introductory price of ₹1.15 lakh and ₹92,900 (ex-showroom Delhi) and equipped with a host of new features and technologies while retaining the core essence of the iconic motorcycle, the company.

In June, SoftBank sold a 3.25% stake in Lenskart for ₹2,873 crore.

In the latest transaction, Japan-based SoftBank ​Group, through its affiliate SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd, offloaded a total of 4.5 crore equity shares in 22 tranches, amounting to a 2.58% stake in Gurugram-based Lenskart, as per the block deal data on the BSE.

The move is part of ABDL's broader strategy to expand its international footprint through an asset-light growth model, the company said in a statement.

ABDL, India's largest spirits exporter by volume, currently exports to 39 international markets and has more than doubled its global reach over the last two years, it added.