Rate-sensitive shares, Ola Electric, PNB Housing Finance among buzzing stocks as NIFTY falls over 90 pts; SENSEX flat

The Indian benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, were trading in the negative territory during the afternoon session on Wednesday, August 5, amid a decline in private banking stocks.

Furthermore, after a three-day key monetary policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday decided to keep the benchmark interest rate (repo rate) for the Indian economy unchanged at 5.25% while retaining its ‘neutral’ stance due to the higher inflation risk in the upcoming period.

While the SENSEX traded in the green, it later pared its gains to trade flat with a negative bias.

The SENSEX declined by as much as 0.15% to hit an intraday low of 78,311.39. Meanwhile, the NIFTY50 tumbled as much as 0.5% to touch the session’s low of 24,498.40.

At 2:02 PM, the S&P BSE SENSEX fell by 63.38 points, or 0.08%, to stand at 78,365.58. NSE’s NIFTY50 was trading at 24,522.25, reflecting a 92.65-point, or 0.38% decline.

Buzzing stocks on August 5: Check list

Rate-sensitive stocks like auto, real estate, and PSU bank stocks were trading higher on Wednesday, August 5, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its repo rate unchanged. In contrast, private banking stocks were seen under pressure.

The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% while maintaining its neutral stance in the backdrop of uncertainties about southwest monsoons and El Niño.

Governor Malhotra noted that headline inflation is set to rise in the near term, fuelled by higher oil and food prices, and will peak in the third quarter before starting to decline. The West Asia conflict continues to challenge the global economy by disrupting key trade routes, Malhotra said.

Shares of general insurance companies such as New India Assurance, Go Digit General Insurance and ICICI Lombard rallied during the trading session, after the Supreme Court extended the mandatory third-party insurance coverage of new vehicles by a year.

Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of Nykaa, jumped nearly 2% to hit a 52-week high of ₹348 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, August 5. However, the stock lost momentum and slipped into the red later.

Nykaa reported a 247% year-on-year surge in consolidated net profit to ₹80 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (Q1 FY27). In the corresponding quarter last year, the beauty and personal care retailer had posted a net profit of ₹23 crore.

The company’s revenue from operations increased 29% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹2,782 crore as compared to ₹2,155 crore in Q1 FY26.

On the operational level, Nykaa’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at ₹236 crore, marking a jump of 69% from ₹140 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. The company’s EBITDA margin also expanded to 8.4% in contrast to 6.5% YoY.

The stock of PNB Housing Finance surged as much as 6.85% to hit a 52-week high of ₹1,154 per equity share on the NSE on August 5, after it posted its earnings for Q1 FY27.

PNB Housing Finance on Tuesday reported a 4.3% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its net standalone profit to ₹557 crore for the first quarter ended June.

The housing finance firm had earned a net profit of ₹534 crore in the same quarter of the preceding financial year, according to a regulatory filing.

The net interest income (NII) surged 6% YoY to ₹803 crore during the quarter under review, as against ₹760 crore in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26).

However, its net interest margin (NIM) declined by 24 basis points (bps) YoY to 3.5% compared to 3.74% in the first quarter of the preceding fiscal.

Shares of Ola Electric surged 10.44% to their intraday high of ₹42.60 apiece on Wednesday’s market, as investors focused on the company’s battery energy storage system (BESS) expansion plans and its latest partnership deal with Axis Energy.

As per the deal, Axis Energy is building grids for over 3,750 megawatt (MW) projects in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and has a strong pipeline of 3500 MW; these projects will require large-scale BESS to improve renewable energy integration, enhance grid reliability, and deliver firm, round-the-clock clean energy.

Hence, the company has signed an MoU with Ola Electric to leverage the company’s ‘Ola Mahashakti’, a forthcoming battery energy storage platform for commercial, industrial and utility-scale applications.

Ola Electric is set to launch the new BESS platform on August 15, 2026.

The stock of LIC was trading in the green as the government has decided to exercise the 4% greenshoe option in its offer for sale (OFS) following robust demand from non-retail investors.

The Centre had initially planned to sell a 2.5% stake, with the greenshoe option taking the total offer size to 6.5%. The retail bidding window opened today.

SEPC shares jumped as much as 9% to touch an intraday high of ₹6.47 apiece on Wednesday, August 5, after the civil construction firm said it has bagged an order from the Steel Authority of India (SAIL).

Worth ₹854.57 crore, SEPC received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for a Pellet Plant Balance of Plant (BOP) package, which includes civil and structural works, for the 4.08 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity expansion of SAIL-ISP at Burnpur.

The order is expected to be completed within 32 months from the effective date of the contract. “The effective date of contract shall be the date of signing of Contract or 30 days from the date of Letter of acceptance (LOA), whichever is earlier,” SEPC said in a regulatory filing.

The stock of Precision Wires India soared 7% to hit the session’s peak of ₹407.90 per equity share on Wednesday, after the company said that its board of directors will hold a meeting on August 10 to consider a fundraiser via the issuance of qualified institutional placements (QIPs), preferential allotment or any other permissible mode.

Shares of hospital chain Manipal Health Enterprises debuted at ₹652 apiece on the NSE on Wednesday, August 5. This reflects a premium of 10.51% over the IPO issue price of ₹590 apiece. On the BSE, the stock started trading at ₹655 per share, up 11.02% from the issue price.

A lot consisted of 25 shares and cost ₹14,750. Investors who received Manipal Health Enterprises IPO allotment made ₹1,550 per lot, taking the value of their investment to ₹16,300, as per the listing price on the NSE.

The ₹9,275.22 crore initial public offering got bids for 44,30,73,025 shares versus 9,00,88,286 shares on offer, translating to 4.92 times subscription, as per the NSE data.