The headline equity indices traded with significant losses in the early afternoon trade, pausing a six-day winning streak driven by optimism surrounding Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms. The cautious sentiment came as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s policy remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium later in the day.
The Nifty traded below the 24,950 mark. Metal shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.
At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 504.43 points or 0.63% to 81,496.28. The Nifty 50 index fell 156.36 points or 0.63% to 24,927.45.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.03% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.14%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,744 shares rose and 2,137 shares fell. A total of 202 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 2.08% to 11.61. The Nifty 28 August 2025 futures were trading at 24,939.20 at a premium of 11.75 points as compared with the spot at 24,927.45.
The Nifty option chain for the 28 August 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 237 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 111.6 lakh contracts was seen at 25,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index fell 0.86% to 9,411.60. The index declined 0.90% in two consecutive trading sessions.
Lloyds Metals & Energy (down 1.72%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.65%), JSW Steel (down 1.47%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.94%), Steel Authority of India (down 0.80%), Tata Steel (down 0.71%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.71%), Hindustan Copper (down 0.65%), Vedanta (down 0.64%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.58%) slipped.
On the other hand, Jindal Stainless (up 0.74%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.04%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Unilever lost 0.99%. The company announced the appointment of Niranjan Gupta as chief financial officer–designate and member of the company’s management committee from 1 September 2025.
PTC Industries rallied 3.48% after the company announced that it has secured a Rs 110-crore order from BrahMos Aerospace for the supply of critical titanium castings.
NTPC Green Energy added 1.06% after company’s wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Renewable Energy has commissioned third part capacity of 49.125 MW out of its 300 MW Khavda solar energy project at Bhuj, Gujarat.