Key Market Cues Likely To Impact D-Street Today

Domestic equity benchmark indices registered gains for the fifth straight session on August 20, 2025 buoyed largely by buying in large-cap IT stocks.

The Nifty 50 closed at 25,050.55, up 69.9 points or 0.28 per cent, reclaiming the 25,000 mark. The Sensex ended the session at 81,857.84, gaining 213.45 points or 0.26 per cent.

The mid-cap and small-cap segments also witnessed buying interest as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 extended their gains.

Key Stock Market Cues For Today

Here are the key stock market cues to watch for the trading session on August 21, 2025.

US Markets

Benchmark indices in the US stock market closed largely in the negative amid a broad-based decline in tech stocks and as market participants digested corporate earnings by major retail companies and the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes release.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed 0.67 per cent lower, the S&P 500 slipped 0.24 per cent while the Dow Jones closed flat, however, with a slight positive bias.

Asian Markets

Asian shares broadly traded mixed in early session this morning as market participants await news from the three-day annual event at Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming, the US.

China's SSE Composite traded up by 0.30 per cent, while the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng slipped lower by 0.15 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down nearly 0.60 per cent, and South Korea's KOSPI was up by more than 1 per cent.

Jackson Hole Economic Symposium

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which has resisted US President Donald Trump’s demand to cut interest rates, is set to speak at the three-day annual Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming, US.

Market participants would be looking for the timing and magnitude of potential interest rate cuts.

Crude Oil Price

Crude oil prices extended gains for the second day after rising around 2 per cent in the previous session. The rally comes amid US crude and fuel inventories falling much below expectations, indicating steady demand for oil.

Brent Crude futures traded at $67.10 per barrel, up by 0.39 per cent, while the WTI Crude futures rose around 0.45 per cent to trade at $62.99 per barrel, as of 9:00 AM.

Market participants are also watching closely for any updates on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. For now, sanctions on Russian oil are still in place, keeping pressure on global supply.

Gold Price Today

In the morning session, gold price on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) traded lower by Rs 227 or 0.23 per cent at Rs 99,077 per 10 grams, as market participants remained cautious ahead of Powell’s Jackson Hole speech.

Internationally traded COMEX Gold also traded lower by $6.1 or 0.18 per cent at $3,382 an ounce.

RBI MPC Meeting Minutes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the minutes of its 56th monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on August 20, 2025.

Market participants will be assessing the rationale behind RBI's policy decisions and inflation and growth outlook.

GST Meeting

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 20 in crucial meeting with state Group of Ministers (GoMs) presented the Centre’s plan to rationalise the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates, proposing a shift to two main slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent. She said it would ease the burden on farmers, the middle class and small businesses.

Market participants would be looking for cues from the ongoing GST meeting.