Indian equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty, started the session in the red on Thursday, August 28, 2025 as market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic after the 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods took effect yesterday. The 30-share BSE Sensex shed 31.88 points to start the session at 80,754.66; the Nifty fell 16.25 points to open at 24,695.80. In the last trading session, the Sensex closed at 80,786.54 and the Nifty 50 at 24,712.05. Similarly, the broader indices also traded in the red in the opening session. While the BSE Midcap was down by 3.43 points in the early trading session, the BSE Smallcap index fell 121.24 points or 0.23 per cent to trade at 51,976.35.
From the Sensex pack, Eternal Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Titan and Maruti were among the major gainers, with Eternal leading the pack by adding 0.79 per cent in the early trade today. On the other hand, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Power Grid were among the laggards, with HCL Tech losing 2.15 per cent in the opening trade.
In early trade, 905 stocks in the Nifty pack were trading in the green, while 1,235 were trading in the red. One hundred forty stocks remained unchanged.
What did Gift Nifty indicate?
Gift Nifty, an early indicator for the Nifty 50, indicated a negative start as it opened with a dip of 48.5 points at 24,649, compared to the previous close of 24,697.50.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,516 crore on August 26. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 7,060 crore.
"The real challenge before the market is the high valuations and the tepid earnings growth. A strong pillar of support for the market is the aggressive buying by DIIs, flush with funds. Any selling by FIIs will be easily neutralised by the aggressive buying by DIIs," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.
Asian Markets Today
Meanwhile, Asian stocks wobbled on Thursday, after modest gains on Wall Street lifted the stock market to an all-time high following Nvidia's earnings update. Nikkei 225 jumped 246.73 points or 0.58 per cent to 42,767, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 161.76 points or 0.64 per cent. However, South Korea's Kospi traded in the green with a gain of 15.29 points. On the other hand, Shanghai's SSE Composite index was up by 2.73 points or 0.07 per cent.
How did individual sectors perform?
Almost all Nifty sectoral indices traded in the red today, with the exception of the Auto Index, which gained 0.21 per cent. While the Nifty IT index shed 0.63 per cent, the Nifty realty index fell 0.17 per cent in the opening session.
