Sensex, Nifty 50 Extend Winning Streak For Fourth Straight Day – Here's What To Watch Next

Benchmark indices extended gains for the fourth straight session on August 19, 2025, buoyed by the optimism of GST rate rationalisation and India's credit rating upgrade by S&P Global. The market was also optimistic after signs of easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine emerged. US President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier today at the White House and suggested the idea of a trilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also assured Zelenskyy that the US would provide Ukraine with "very good" security guarantees.

In other news, China lifted its export restrictions on fertilisers, rare earth magnets, minerals, and tunnel boring machines to India. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on a two-day visit to India, and during his talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Yi said that the two countries should "view each other as partners and opportunities, rather than adversaries or threats." The signs of improving India-China relations also supported investor sentiment.

Both Sensex and Nifty 50 opened on a flat note, but gained momentum as the session progressed, touching their intraday highs of 81,755.88 and 25,012.65, respectively. Around mid-session, profit-booking briefly pulled the indices off their highs, but a fag-end recovery helped them close the session near their respective day's high.

At close, the Sensex was 81,644.39, up 370.64 points, or 0.46 per cent, and the Nifty 50 was at 24,980.65, up 103.70 points, or 0.42 per cent.

Broad-based Buying

The buying was market-wide as broader indices such as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 also extended gains, rising 0.97 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively. The Nifty 500 index, which captures more than 92 per cent of the total free-float market capitalisation of all the NSE-listed stocks, too, rose 0.59 per cent.

The Nifty Microcap 250, which tracks the performance of the top 250 most valuable and liquid stocks beyond Nifty 500 constituents, surged the most, climbing 1.19 per cent.

Oil & Gas, Auto Lead Gainers

Among the sectoral indices Nifty Oil & Gas gained the most, rising 1.66 per cent, as crude oil prices dipped more than 1 per cent on easing Russia-Ukraine tensions. Brent Crude futures traded 1.28 per cent lower at $65.75 per barrel, and the WTI Crude futures quoted 1.34 per cent down at $61.86 per barrel, as of 4:40 PM.

Nifty Auto gained 1.31 per cent, extending gains in hopes of lower GST rates on automobiles. Nifty FMCG, too, gained 1.05 per cent, riding on consumption boost optimism from the anticipated tax rationalisation.

Nifty Media surged 1.34 per cent, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, which climbed 0.98 per cent. Most other sectoral indices closed in green, except Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Financial Services.

Nifty 50 Top Gainers & Losers

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Tata Motors gained the most, rising 3.62 per cent, Adani Ports rose 3.22 per cent, index heavyweight Reliance Industries climbed 2.84 per cent, and Hero MotoCorp advanced 2.66 per cent, emerging as the top gainers of the day. Bajaj Auto, Adani Enterprises, Eternal (formerly Zomato), Tech Mahindra, Tata Consumer Products, and Nestle India too rose between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's Laboratories declined 1.40 per cent, Cipla fell 1.15 per cent, and Hindalco slipped 1.03 per cent, emerging as the top losers of the day. Following these, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), HDFC Bank, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, and Bharat Electronics also fell between 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent.

Key Market Cues For Tomorrow, August 20

As the market goes into trade on August 20, 2025, here are the key domestic and global cues market participants will likely to tracking closely.

India-China Relations

India and China are taking steps to improve bilateral relations amid Trump's punitive tariffs, which both countries are currently facing. Ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on August 31–September 1, Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Delhi on August 18 to discuss trade, borders, and terrorism.

Yi also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. During his meeting with Doval, Yi said, "History and reality prove that a healthy relationship between India and China serves the long-term interests of both countries."

The renewed dialogue has fuelled positive sentiments among market participants. Any further development in this space will be closely tracked.

Group of Ministers Meeting on GST Reforms

Minister of Finance and the Chairperson of GST Council Nirmala Sitharaman will, for the first time, directly address Group of Ministers (GoM) meetings on the Centre's "next-generation" GST reforms.

On the Council's agenda is a simplified GST structure with a 5 per cent standard rate, 18 per cent merit rate, and a 40 per cent slab for select sin goods. Markets will closely watch the August 20 meeting for any major announcements that could impact consumption and sectoral stocks.

RBI MPC, US Federal Reserve FOMC Minutes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the US Federal Reserve are expected to release the minutes of their respective policy meetings on August 20, 2025.

The minutes typically provide insights into their respective rate-setting committees' decisions on rates, any dissenting opinions, and the outlook on inflation, growth, and global risks. Market participants will be looking for signals that could influence banking, financials, and other interest rate-sensitive sectors.

Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting

After the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, global markets are relieved of no further escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Markets participants will be monitoring for more developments that could signal further easing of geopolitical tensions between the two neighbouring countries. Fluctuations in crude oil prices will also likely be tracked after today's decline.