Domestic equities ended marginally higher on Wednesday, with the benchmarks extending their winning run to a fifth straight session. Gains were led by strong buying in IT, realty, and FMCG counters, helping the Nifty close above the 25,000 mark. Optimism was underpinned by steady domestic inflows and supportive macroeconomic trends, even as analysts cautioned that stretched valuations and external risks, such as U.S. tariffs, remain headwinds. Globally, investors turned watchful ahead of the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes later in the day and the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium scheduled for August 21-23. The event is expected to provide critical signals on the Fed's policy path and the outlook for global monetary conditions. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 213.45 points or 0.26% to 81,857.84. The Nifty 50 index added 69.90 points or 0.28% to 25,050.55. In five trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty jumped 2.02% and 2.29%, respectively. Infosys (up 3.88%), TCS (up 2.69%) and Nestle India (up 2.56%) boosted the Nifty higher today. The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.39% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.30%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,343 shares rose and 1,725 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 0.04% to 11.79. Numbers to Track: The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.17% to 6.501 from the previous close of 6.512. In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.0650 compared with its close of 87.1300 during the previous trading session. MCX Gold futures for 3 October 2025 settlement rose 0.08% to Rs 98,767. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.01% to 98.27. The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.14% to 4.296. In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2025 settlement rose 42 cent or 0.64% to $66.21 a barrel. Global Markets: Most European stocks advanced on Wednesday as the U.K.'s annual inflation rate hit a hotter-than-expected 3.8% in July, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday. July core inflation, which excludes more volatile energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco prices, rose by an annual 3.8%, up from 3.7% in the twelve months to June. Asian indices ended mixed as investors assessed Japan's trade data and China's loan prime rate decision. Japan's exports dropped 2.6% year over year in July, notching their steepest drop in over four years. The fall was sharper than the widely expected 2.1% contraction and the 0.5% drop seen in June. Meanwhile, China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged for the third consecutive month on Wednesday, as authorities signaled they are in no rush to deliver monetary stimulus despite a string of recent disappointing economic data. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.0%, while the five-year LPR was unchanged at 3.5%. Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 pulled back, weighed down by Nvidia shares and a broad decline in technology stocks. The broad market S&P 500 lost 0.59% and closed at 6,411.37, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.46% to settle at 21,314.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10.45 points, or 0.02%, and ended at 44,922.27. The 30-stock index touched a fresh record high during the session. New Listing: Shares of Regaal Resources ended at Rs 131.65 on the BSE, representing a premium of 29.07% compared with the issue price of Rs 102. The scrip was listed at Rs 141.80, exhibiting a premium of 39.02% to the issue price. The stock has hit a high of Rs 145.70 and a low of Rs 130.25. On the BSE, 66.27 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter. Stocks in Spotlight: Vedanta fell 1.03%. The National Company Law Tribunal has postponed Vedanta Limited's demerger hearing. The new date is September 17. This decision follows objections from SEBI and the Central government. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had earlier raised concerns. SEBI is verifying Vedanta's compliance. The NSE has issued a no-objection certificate. Vedanta announced its demerger plan in September 2023. Nazara Technologies slumped 12.82% after reports that the government may ban money-based gaming transactions under the proposed Online Gaming Bill, which seeks to regulate real-money platforms and impose strict penalties. The company clarified it has no direct exposure to real money gaming, with only an indirect minority stake in PokerBaazi operator Moonshine Technologies, whose revenues are not consolidated. Nazara stressed that it does not expect any material impact on its financial performance despite the news. Vishnu Chemicals rallied 2.77% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Vishnu Strontium has commenced commercial production of Strontium Carbonate at its Atchutapuram unit, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Aditya Infotech surged 10% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 46.09% to Rs 32.87 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with Rs 22.50 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 16.35% YoY to Rs 740.03 crore in Q1 June 2025. Dynamic Cables surged 20% after the company secured fresh BIS approvals to manufacture high-conductivity aluminium alloy conductors and fire survival cables, valid till August 2026. The firm also announced that capacity enhancements through debottlenecking and capex have lifted its monthly turnover potential to Rs 135 crore from Rs 100 crore, subject to demand and order flow. Insolation Energy surged 7.65% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Insolation Green Energy, has commenced commercial operations of its new 3 GW PV module manufacturing plant at Sawarda, Jaipur, Rajasthan. B.R.Goyal Infrastructure rallied 3.2% after the company announced that it has received a work order worth Rs 47.83 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Centum Electronics rallied 7.17% after the company entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bharat Electronics (BEL) to jointly develop advanced defense electronics solutions. Lupin fell 1.41%. The company announced the launch of Bosentan tablets for oral suspension, 32 mg in the United States, following approval received by its alliance partner, NATCO Pharma, from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). GNG Electronics rose 1.72%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 52.55% to Rs 18.52 crore on 22.31% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 312.27 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25. Kranti Industries added 5.64% after the company announced that it has received a new purchase order from Ingersoll-Rand Industrial U.S., Inc., a United States-based customer. Servotech Renewable Power System surged 3.51% after the company secured an order worth Rs 28.84 crore from the Jaipur division of North Western Railway for installing a 7.3 MW on-grid rooftop solar power plant. IPO Update: Mangal Electrical Industries' IPO received bids for 26,56,602 shares as against 52,53,301 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST on Wednesday (20 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 0.51 times. Shreeji Shipping Global's IPO received bids for 7,16,67,990 shares as against 1,14,08,600 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST on Wednesday (20 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 6.28 times. Vikram Solar's IPO received bids for 20,25,54,675 shares as against 4,53,61,650 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST on Wednesday (20 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 4.47 times. Patel Retail's IPO received bids for 14,66,91,280 shares as against 78,15,612 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST on Wednesday (20 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 18.77 times. Gem Aromatics' IPO received bids for 2,76,15,456 shares as against 97,82,363 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST on Wednesday (20 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 2.82 times. Powered by Capital Market - Live News
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