Indian equity benchmarks, the Sensex and Nifty, registered gains at the opening bell on Thursday, August 6, 2026. The Sensex climbed 175 points to reach 78,756, while the Nifty advanced 11 points to 24,634. This positive start pushed the total market capitalization of BSE-listed firms to Rs 492.68 lakh crore.
Top Performers and Market Movers
Leading the charge among Sensex constituents were shares of HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Reliance Industries (RIL), Asian Paints, and Eternal, with some recording gains of up to 1.13%. The BSE IT index notably rose by 133 points, closing at 30,307, providing significant momentum to the broader indices.
Conversely, PowerGrid, M&M, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Finance were among the top Sensex losers, seeing declines of up to 1.84%.
Global Factors and Expert Outlook
Support for Indian equities also came from the global crude oil market, with Brent crude prices trading below the $80 per barrel mark, specifically at $79.38 per barrel.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities, offered a technical perspective, noting, "From a technical perspective, the market is currently exhibiting range-bound movement." He identified short-term support for traders at 24,500-24,450 for Nifty and 78,200-78,000 for Sensex. Key resistance levels were placed at 24,700-24,750 for Nifty and 78,900-79,000 for Sensex. Chouhan suggested that a breakout above these resistance levels could propel markets higher, while a breach of support could lead to declines.
Regarding foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, commented, "Even though FIIs have been buyers recently, it is yet to become a strong sustainable trend." He cautioned that significant, sustained FII inflows are improbable due to persistently high and potentially rising US bond yields, suggesting FIIs might continue to invest in smaller increments.
Previous Session Close
In the preceding session on Wednesday, both benchmark indices had also closed higher. The Sensex gained 152 points to 78,581, and the Nifty rose 9 points to 24,624, with the market cap of BSE-listed firms standing at Rs 492.43 lakh crore.