Nifty Flat at Open as Crude Near $90, CPI Data in Focus

Equity benchmarks opened nearly flat Wednesday, tracking a muted GIFT Nifty signal that had pointed to a 24,550–24,563 range. The Nifty 50 started at 24,472.45 and slipped to 24,451.95, down 19.75 points or 0.08 percent. The Sensex opened at 78,263.33 and traded at 78,127.07, down 27.18 points or 0.03 percent.

Tuesday had ended on a weak note, with the Nifty losing 112.10 points or 0.46 percent and the Sensex falling 388 points. Brent crude near $89–90 a barrel was the weight, driven by stalled negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and fresh attacks on shipping. "Iran maintained the strait would stay closed until its demands are met," even as a senior Pakistani minister said the US and Iran were nearing "some sort of arrangement."

Hindalco led early Nifty gainers, up 3.12 percent to ₹1,081.85. Grasim rose 1.52 percent to ₹3,372.80. State Bank of India added 1.39 percent to ₹1,080.80 after reporting a strong GDP forecast. Nestlé India gained 0.99 percent to ₹1,508.00. TMPV was up 0.89 percent to ₹350.70.

On the losing side, Apollo Hospitals fell 1.62 percent to ₹8,608.50. Max Healthcare dropped 1.34 percent to ₹1,026.10. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories slipped 1.05 percent to ₹1,192.30. Tata Consumer Products was down 0.87 percent to ₹1,068.60. Bajaj Finserv declined 0.79 percent to ₹2,015.90.

Sector performance was mixed. IT and pharma had shown relative strength Tuesday, then pharma-linked stocks faced selling pressure at the open. Banking and financials stayed under watch, with Bank Nifty settling at 57,446.25 Tuesday, down 240.70 points or 0.42 percent. "Immediate support is at 56,800–57,000, while resistance is seen around 57,800–58,000," analysts said.

Elevated crude continued to weigh. "The principal factor restraining a rally is the strengthening Brent crude which has again moved above $89 level," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. "This might keep crude prices elevated, constraining a rally in the market." The rupee weakened for a second consecutive session, depreciating 14 paise to close at ₹95.44 on Tuesday, pressured by rising oil prices and risk aversion.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers on Tuesday, purchasing equities worth ₹258–259 crore. That slowed sharply from ₹1,975 crore the previous session. Domestic institutional investors also remained net buyers at ₹24 crore. "Overseas investors have become more selective ahead of key global macro events," analysts noted.

Global cues were mixed. Wall Street closed lower for a second session Tuesday, with the S&P 500 falling 0.32 percent, the Dow 0.34 percent, and the Nasdaq 0.60 percent. Alphabet shares dropped 3.8 percent on AI restructuring concerns. Asian markets opened cautiously, with Japan's Nikkei posting modest gains after a holiday and South Korea's Kospi up over 2 percent.

On the positive side for India's longer-term outlook, SBI projected FY27 GDP growth at 8 percent, against the RBI's forecast of 6.7 percent. "If this turns out to be true, corporate earnings for FY27 will be much better-than-expected," Vijayakumar said. Separately, the central government's net direct tax collection rose 23 percent year-on-year to ₹8.11 trillion as of August 10. Fitch Ratings affirmed India's sovereign rating at BBB- with a stable outlook, citing robust growth prospects while flagging elevated government debt.

US July CPI data, due Wednesday, remains the key global trigger, with markets expecting 0.1 percent month-on-month headline growth and a 3.4 percent annual pace.