Stock Market LIVE Updates Today, Monday, August 26: Benchmark indices S&P Sensex and Nifty 50 had maintained their lead on Monday at elevated levels, after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech signalled the interest rate cut cycle could begin from the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for September.
Around 2:00 PM, the S&P Sensex was at 81,746, up 0.81 per cent or 650 points, while the Nifty 50 was at 25,017 levels, up 0.78 per cent or 194 points.
Among individual stocks, shares of Paytm (One97 Communications) tumbled 8.8 per cent to Rs 505.25 per share intraday amid report that market regulator Sebi has issued a show-cause notice to founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and its board members for likely “misrepresentation of facts” and “non-compliance with promoter classification norms”, based on inputs from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
That apart, major share markets acorss Asia-Pacific turned hesitant on Monday, while the dollar and bond yields sagged ahead of inflation data that could pave the way for rate cuts in the United States and Europe, while Wall Street braced for earnings from AI darling Nvidia.
Oil prices climbed after Israel and Hezbollah traded rocket salvos and air strikes on Sunday, stirring worries about possible supply disruptions if the conflict escalated.
Brent rose 81 cents to $79.83 a barrel as of 12:30 PM, while US crude added 80 cents to $75.63 per barrel.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both slightly lower in slow trade.
Moreover, in mixed Asian stock markets on Monday, Japan was a notable underperformer, with the Nikkei closing 0.66 per cent lower as a stronger yen pressured exporter stocks.
European shares were also subdued on Monday ahead of a raft of key economic data this week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat at 518.22 by 12:38 PM. The benchmark had touched its highest level in more than three weeks on Friday and logged gains for the third straight week.
On the day, the technology sector was the biggest drag on the STOXX 600, declining 0.4%, but losses were offset by a 0.5% gain in real estate stocks.
Eurozone industrial and economic sentiment, Spanish flash consumer prices, German retail sales, and preliminary consumer prices are also expected this week.
