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Trendlyne Marketwatch
21 Aug 2026
Market closes flat as investors turn cautious after Trump’s Iran sanctions announcement
By Trendlyne Analysis

 

 

 

Nifty 50 closed at 24,252 (20.2, 0.1%), BSE Sensex closed at 77,540.83 (3.1, 0%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 23,530.30 (17.4, 0.1%). Market breadth is even. Of the 2,807 stocks traded today, 1,419 were in the positive territory and 1,323 were negative.

Indian indices closed flat as investors turned cautious following Trump’s economic sanctions announcement on Iran. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, rose 3.8% and closed at 11.2 points. Welspun Corp surged to an all-time high of Rs 2,243.7 after securing an order worth around Rs 17,200 crore to supply pipes from its US manufacturing facility. The order will be executed over FY28-29, taking its global order book to around Rs 42,100 crore.

Nifty Midcap 100 closed flat, while Nifty Smallcap 100 closed higher. S&P BSE SME IPO and BSE Insurance were among the top index gainers today. According to Trendlyne’s Sector dashboard, Diversified Consumer Services emerged as the best-performing sector of the day, with a rise of 1.2%.

Asian indices closed mixed, while European indices are trading higher. US index futures traded higher. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged US allies to support Washington’s efforts to “squash” Iran’s economy and called on China to cooperate, while Beijing said sanctions would not resolve the issue. Bessent gave no details on the planned measures but said the pressure campaign would reduce the need for a “large-scale kinetic restart” of the conflict. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the threatened US sanctions as “illegal and inhumane.”

  • Money Flow Index (MFI) indicates that stocks like Lenskart Solutions, Welspun Corp and GlaxoSmithKline are in the overbought zone.

  • United Spirits rises to its 52-week high of Rs 1,563.4 as FSSAI withdraws its order restricting the sale of certain whisky products made at a third-party facility in Madhya Pradesh over label compliance concerns. The regulator has also withdrawn a separate order concerning a product made at the company’s Baramati facility in Maharashtra, resolving the issue that led United Spirits to approach the Bombay High Court.

  • Zydus Lifesciences is rising as it gets US FDA approval for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Ascorbic Acid injection. The drug is used for the short-term treatment of scurvy when oral treatment is not possible. It had US sales of around $11.6 million in the 12 months ending June 2026, according to IQVIA.

  • Power Grid is rising as it reportedly wins a Rs 26,000 crore contract for the Barmer transmission project. The project will transmit 6 GW of solar power from Rajasthan to other states.

  • FTSE Russell clears BSE as an eligible exchange, allowing mainboard stocks to be considered for inclusion in its equity indices from the March 2027 review. BSE mainboard IPOs will also qualify for fast-track screening, potentially boosting visibility and passive fund flows for companies listed exclusively on the exchange.

  • Niva Bupa Health Insurance is falling as IRDAI bars it from opening new offices for six months after it breached expense-of-management limits in FY25. Expense of management refers to costs such as commissions, employee expenses and administrative overheads incurred in running the insurance business.

  • Cochin Shipyard declines after HD Korea Shipbuilding (HD Hyundai) reportedly scraps plans for a JV and the 2025 MoU for block production with the company, while retaining broader technology cooperation. The proposed Rs 4,000 crore Kochi block fabrication facility was intended to increase Cochin Shipyard’s capacity to 120,000 MTPA, enabling it to build larger vessels such as Suezmax tankers.

  • Paras Defence's Technical and R&D Director Amit Mahajan expects exports to nearly double to Rs 120-130 crore as the Middle East conflict drives demand for its defence engineering products. He notes that the orders from Israel and the UAE have increased so far this fiscal year, while demand from France and Germany is also rising as Europe boosts defence spending.

  • Ventura initiates coverage on Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions with a 'Buy' rating and a target price of Rs 1,940. The brokerage believes CleanMax is well positioned to benefit from rising renewable energy adoption in India’s commercial and industrial segment, which accounts for over half of the country’s power consumption. It notes that CleanMax’s weighted average realised tariff of Rs 4.06 per kWh is well below typical industrial grid tariffs of Rs 7-9 per kWh, resulting in savings of over 40%.

  • Puravankara is rising as its wholly owned subsidiary, Starworth Infrastructure & Construction, receives a Rs 175 crore contract from Red Connect. Starworth will carry out civil and structural works for the Ritz Carlton project in Chennai over 32 months.

  • Ceigall India is rising as it secures an order worth Rs 225 crore from Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation to develop infrastructure for the Bulk Drug Park in Una. The work includes internal roads, stormwater drains, a bridge and fencing, with completion scheduled in 18 months.

  • JBM Auto surges as Bain Capital reportedly explores investing up to Rs 2,850 crore for a significant minority stake in its electric-vehicle business. The potential growth capital will support JBM’s expansion in electric buses, batteries and charging infrastructure.

  • Macquarie retains its ‘Underperform’ rating on both Eternal and Swiggy, questioning whether scale alone can deliver the profitability currently priced into the stocks. The brokerage expects intense competition to persist, with Zepto, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes adding pressure as Eternal and Swiggy continue expanding their dark-store networks.

  • RailTel Corporation rises as it wins a Rs 164.8 crore order from Western Coalfields. The order involves setting up and operating a private communications network for the company for five years.

  • Balrampur Chini Mills, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Shree Renuka Sugars are falling after India permits duty-free imports of 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar until October 31. This marks the country’s first sugar import in nearly a decade and aims to increase domestic supply after prices rose nearly 40% in two months. India typically imposes a 100% import duty on sugar.

  • Urban Company is rising as UBS initiates a 'Buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 180. The brokerage believes India’s online home services market is nearing a major growth phase, with Urban Company’s net transaction value expected to grow 32% annually to Rs 10,000 crore by FY29.

  • S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), says India is targeting 35-40% domestic value addition in mobile phone manufacturing to deepen the electronics supply chain and strengthen its role in global manufacturing. He adds that mobile phones became India’s largest export product in FY2025-26, with domestic value addition rising from about 15% at the start of the manufacturing push to 22-23% currently.

  • Quant Mutual Fund acquires additional 2.7 lakh shares (~0.6% stake) in pharma company Pfizer for Rs 131.3 crore. The share were purchased at approximately Rs 4,900 apiece. Quant held a 2.2% stake in the company as of the June 2026 shareholding pattern.

  • Colgate-Palmolive (India) is falling as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prabha Narasimhan, tenders her resignation, effective September 27. Manish Anandani will take over as the new MD & CEO.

  • Data Patterns surges to a new all-time high of Rs 5,000 as it receives an order worth Rs 585.8 crore from Bharat Electronics (BEL) to supply radar electronics.

  • Shanthi Gears (SGL) surges over 18% after Tube Investments of India reportedly acquires 2.69% stake (20,64,713 equity shares) in the company for around Rs 77.5 crore via a block deal. Post to the acquisition, Tube Investments' shareholding in SGL has increased from 70.5% to 73.2%.

  • Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles is rising as it hikes prices by up to Rs 25,000 across its models, effective September 1, due to higher input costs.

  • Trudy Holdings, AVP I Fund and Accel reportedly to sell combined 5% stake in Amagi Media Labs through a Rs 600 crore block deal, with a floor price of Rs 550 per share.

  • Welspun Corp surges to an all-time high of Rs 2,243.7 as it secures an order worth around Rs 17,200 crore ($1.8 billion) to supply pipes from its US manufacturing facility. The order will be executed over FY28-29 and takes its global order book to around Rs 42,100 crore.

  • Saatvik Green Energy surges as its subsidiary secures an order worth Rs 190 crore from a domestic power producer/EPC player to supply solar PV modules. The order will be executed by March 2027.

  • Nifty 50 was trading at 24,241.75 (9.9, 0.0%), BSE Sensex was trading at 77,701.07 (163.4, 0.2%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 23,519.70 (6.8, 0.0%).

  • Market breadth is in the green. Of the 2,214 stocks traded today, 1,157 were on the uptrend, and 953 went down.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (594.90, 3.7%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (272.40, 2.9%) and Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. (1,631, 2.9%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (2,883.60, -3.9%), Britannia Industries Ltd. (5,365, -3.3%) and Jindal Stainless Ltd. (701, -2.4%).

Volume Rockets

20 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Welspun Corp Ltd. (2,291.20, 14.3%), Jindal Saw Ltd. (292.90, 8.6%) and Urban Company Ltd. (157.41, 8.2%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Britannia Industries Ltd. (5,365, -3.3%), CCL Products India Ltd. (1,080, -2.9%) and Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd. (461.50, -2.8%).

JBM Auto Ltd. (662.95, 6.4%) was trading at 82.5 times of weekly average. NCC Ltd. (149.85, 7.0%) and IIFL Finance Ltd. (682.90, 7.3%) were trading with volumes 15.5 and 9.7 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

14 stocks hit their 52 week highs, while 5 stocks tanked below their 52 week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Welspun Corp Ltd. (2,291.20, 14.3%), Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. (1,108.20, 1.9%) and IIFL Finance Ltd. (682.90, 7.3%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - Dabur India Ltd. (400.50, 0.1%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Healthcare Ltd. (8,198, -0.6%).

7 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Ltd. (299.45, 5.0%) and KFIN Technologies Ltd. (980, 2.0%). 4 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Aditya Birla Real Estate Ltd. (1,398, -3.3%) and Godrej Agrovet Ltd. (573.50, -1.4%).

 
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