Nifty ends below 24,900 as six-day rally ends; Powell's Jackson Hole speech in focus

The domestic equity indices ended sharply lower today, breaking a six-day winning streak as traders booked profits. Sentiment turned cautious ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell?s address at the Jackson Hole Symposium on August 22, his eighth and final speech at the event before his term ends in May 2026. Investors are awaiting cues for the Fed's September 16-17 policy meeting. The Nifty slipped below the 24,900 mark, weighed down by weakness in banking and metal stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 693.86 points or 0.85% to 81,306.85. The Nifty 50 index fell 213.65 points or 0.85% to 24,870.10.

HDFC Bank (down 1.28%), Reliance Industries (down 1.08%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.66%) were major drags today.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 0.23% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.35%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,757 shares rose and 2,322 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 3.12% to 11.73.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.52% to 6.559 from the previous close of 6.525.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.5250 compared with its close of 87.2500 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 October 2025 settlement shed 0.09% to Rs 99,349.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.11% to 98.620.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.07% to 4.334.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2025 settlement declined 10 cents or 0.15% to $67.57 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones index futures were currently up by 151 points, signaling a strong opening for US stocks today.

Most European indices traded higher as traders assessed details of EU-U.S. trade deal.

In an agreement reached last month, the EU said it would spend $750 billion on U.S. energy and invest a minimum of $600 billion in the United States ? in exchange, blanket tariffs on its goods were set at 15% instead of the 30% rate threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Most Asian shares ended higher Friday as investors await U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell?s speech at the central bank?s annual economic symposium, which could offer clues into the path of interest rates.

Japan's core inflation rate cooled to 3.1% in July, declining from 3.3% the month before as rice inflation continued to ease.

Overnight stateside, stocks fell broadly Thursday, with the S&P 500 sliding for the fifth day in a row. The broad-market index shed 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.34%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34%.

U.S. business activity picked up pace in August, led by a resurgent manufacturing sector that saw the strongest growth in orders in 18 months, a purchasing managers survey showed on Thursday. S&P Global's flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 55.4 this month, the highest level since December, from 55.1 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the private sector.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits rose by the most in about three months last week and the number of people collecting unemployment relief in the prior week climbed to the highest level in nearly four years, signaling recent labor market softness continued into August.

The data may also add to the argument for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at its next meeting in about four weeks.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vodafone Idea soared 7.16% following reports that the government is considering a fresh relief package to ease the telecom operator?s burden of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. According to reports, the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) has initiated discussions on a proposal by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that could extend the moratorium period, offer flexible repayment timelines, and even waive penalties and interest. Vodafone Idea currently faces AGR dues of around Rs 83,400 crore, with annual obligations of nearly Rs 18,000 crore from March 2025.

R Systems International surged 5.65% after sealing Rs 400 crore deal to acquire Novigo Solutions, strengthening its product engineering and full-stack agentic-AI capabilities. The acquisition will be EPS accretive for R Systems from the first year.

Divis Laboratories rose 2.13% to Rs 6155 after a foreign broker reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 7,750, citing attractive valuations and supportive sector tailwinds.

Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works (KMEW) surged 3.70% after the company announced that it has received a work order worth Rs 7.25 crore from the Dredging Corporation of India. The contract involves dredging approximately 64,358 cubic meters of material over a period of four months in the port dock areas of Paradip Port, excluding the monsoon season.

IZMO hit the 20% upper circuit on Friday, marking its second consecutive session of strong gains. The stock has jumped 43.99% in two consecutive days, fuelled by optimism around a breakthrough innovation announced by its semiconductor arm izmomicro. On Thursday, izmomicro unveiled a high-density silicon photonics packaging platform, positioning itself as a pioneer in India?s semiconductor ecosystem.

PTC Industries added 2.58% after the company announced that it has secured a Rs 110-crore order from BrahMos Aerospace for the supply of critical titanium castings.

Ceinsys Tech rose 0.57% after the company announced it has secured a service order from Adani Infra (India). The order, valued at Rs 2.24 crore, is for the implementation of a common data environment setup in the energy engineering cluster, covering nine businesses, and the Cement business. It also includes hypercare support for a period of nine months.

Hikal rose 0.65% after the company announced that it has received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its Jigani facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Mangal Electrical Industries received bids for 4,95,13,152 shares as against 52,53,301 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:45 IST on Friday (22 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 9.43 times.

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