Sensex down 493 pts, Nifty below 24,160 amid West Asia crisis

The domestic share market ended lower on Tuesday,weighed down by broad-based selling and a sharp rise in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions between Iran and the US.At close, the Sensex was down 492.70 points or 0.63 percent at 77,235.46, and the Nifty was down 132.75 points or 0.55 percent at 24,154.90.
Axis Bank, Max Healthcare, Grasim Industries, M&M and Power Grid Corp were the top gainers on the Nifty while losers included Asian Paints, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Wipro.On the sectoral front,auto, media and oil & gas ended on positive note, while IT index shed 1.9%, FMCG index shed 0.7%, Realty index fell 1.4% and metal index slipped 0.6%, according to agency reports. Among broader indices, the Nifty midcap index shed 0.4 percent and smallcap index ended flat.
Rupee Close:
On 18 Aug'26,the Indian rupee depreciated 7 paise to close at 95.68 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, weighed down by elevated crude oil prices and lingering geopolitical tensions in West Asia.Forex traders said the USD/INR pair is likely to trade with a slight negative bias, pressured by the delay in the deal between the U.S. and Iran, rising crude oil prices and broader dollar support.
Trading Guide:
Market experts recommended five breakout stocks to buy on Tuesday — Concord Biotech, Kfin Technologies, KEI Industries, Oberoi Realty, and Finolex Cables.

(Business Correspondent)