Markets trade under pressure amid elevated crude oil prices

Indian equity benchmarks made a negative start on Wednesday, as elevated crude oil prices and uncertainty over the West Asia conflict continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Brent crude remained above $91 a barrel.

Rising global bond yields also added to pressure on risk assets, keeping markets cautious. Besides, the Indian rupee weakened against the dollar, weighing on market sentiment.

Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with cut of over quarter a percent each in early deals amid selling pressure in capital goods, power and metal stocks. Though, downside remained limited amid foreign fund inflows.

The provisional data showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,651.53 crore in the Indian equity market on August 18, 2026. On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading lower amid sell-off in technology and semiconductor stocks, reflecting growing concerns that elevated borrowing costs could challenge the steep valuations built up during the global artificial intelligence rally.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77035.67, down by 199.79 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 76971.59 and 77347.81. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.69%, TECK up by 0.46%, Oil & Gas up by 0.17% and FMCG up by 0.14%, while Capital Goods down by 1.61%, Power down by 1.40%, Industrials down by 1.09%, Metal down by 0.96% and Realty down by 0.87% were the top losing indices on BSE. The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.08%, HCL Technologies up by 1.07%, Eternal up by 1.01%, Sun Pharma up by 0.66% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.31%.