Indian stocks maintained their winning run for the second straight session on Tuesday, August 19, on expectations that the proposed GST cut could fuel consumption in the economy. Stocks also found support from reasonable valuations following a prolonged weakness, resulting in a 0.42% gain in the Nifty 50 to 24,980, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.46% higher at 81,633.
The broader markets continued to outperform frontline indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 advancing 1% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.70%. Sector-wise, the Nifty Oil & Gas index led with a 1.69% rally, followed by Nifty Media, Nifty Auto, and Nifty FMCG, which gained between 1% and 1.39%.
Following his Monday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump said he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was working to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, to be followed by a trilateral summit. While this raised hopes for a potential peace deal, investors remained cautious about an imminent breakthrough.
Attention is now firmly on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech in Wyoming later this week, as traders look for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will resume cutting interest rates in September. Markets currently imply an 84% chance of a 25-bps rate cut next month.
Meanwhile, China has promised to address three of India’s concerns—rare earths, fertilizers, and tunnel boring machines, during a bilateral meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Tuesday, ANI reported, citing sources.
Over 55 stocks from the Nifty 500 index gained up to 9%
Among the top performers, Ola Electric emerged as the biggest gainer, rising 9% to ₹45 apiece following the company’s aggressive plans to regain lost market share in the electric two-wheeler segment. Today’s rally also lifted its August return to 8.52%. If the stock maintains this momentum through the end of the month, it will mark its first monthly gain since May.
Devyani International was the second-biggest gainer, advancing 7.4% to ₹167. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India extended its winning streak to a second straight session, climbing another 7% to a fresh record high of ₹2,589.
Other notable gainers included Raymond, Motherson Sumi Wiring, Godawari Power & Ispat, Samvardhana Motherson, IIFL Finance, Reliance Power, and Jaiprakash Power Ventures, all of which closed with gains of over 5%.
Textile stocks, which had been under pressure in recent sessions, also saw healthy buying interest. Vardhman Textiles, Alok Industries, and Welspun Living rallied up to 5.4% after the Centre removed the 11% import duty on raw cotton until September 30.
The rally in Paytm shares also continued, with the stock climbing 4.5% to ₹1,226, its highest level since January 2022. This move lifted its monthly return to 12.6% so far. Overall, 56 stocks from the Nifty 500 pack closed with gains in the range of 3% to 9%.
