Indian equities closed higher but split on Thursday — the Sensex added 374 points to 78,955 and the Nifty 50 crept up to 24,636 — as softer crude and strength in PSU banks and chemicals kept Dalal Street resilient even as South Korea's Kospi crashed nearly 5% on AI-chip fears (Business Standard).

India close

• Sensex: +374 pts (+0.48%) to 78,954.76
• Nifty 50: +11 pts (+0.05%) to 24,636 — effectively flat
• Bank Nifty: −0.29% to ~57,740
• Nifty Midcap100: −0.44%  ·  Smallcap100: +0.48%

The headline gain masked a narrow tape: index heavyweights Reliance Industries, SBI and Bharat Electronics did the lifting while the broader midcap space slipped (Business Standard).

Sectors & movers

PSU banks and chemicals led, aided by cheaper oil, while realty, media and auto lagged as Tuesday's post-RBI-pause pop faded. Q1 earnings season stayed heavy, with Trent, LIC, Hero MotoCorp, Britannia, Lupin and Fortis Healthcare among the names reporting today (Business Standard).

FII & DII flows

Today's provisional exchange flows were not yet published at the time of writing (they land later in the evening). In the most recent cash session tracked, FIIs were net buyers (~₹2,447 cr) and DIIs net sellers (~₹936 cr) — treat as the latest available reading, not today's (5paisa/Trendlyne).

Currency & commodities

• Rupee: around 95.2/$ (down ~9 paise), soft despite a weaker dollar
• Brent crude: ~$79.4/bbl (−0.1%) as Iran–Oman talks raised hopes of a US–Iran deal and a Strait of Hormuz reopening
• Gold: ~$4,278/oz (+0.7%), near a multi-week high on the softer dollar; 24K in India ~₹14,973/g

(HDFC Sky / FXStreet / Trading Economics)

Global now

• Asia: Kospi tumbled ~4.6% (below 8,000) as Samsung and SK Hynix sank on AI-spending profitability fears, triggering a sell-side sidecar; the Nikkei also fell.
• Europe (open): DAX +0.6%, FTSE +0.4%, CAC +0.1%, Stoxx 600 +0.4%.
• US futures: Dow +0.2% (at a record after Wednesday's 54,349 close), S&P +0.1%, Nasdaq-100 −0.1% — AI-capex jitters hit AMD, SanDisk and Western Digital, and SpaceX slumped ~14% as ~$101bn of shares became tradable.

(Korea JoongAng Daily / Yahoo Finance / Benzinga)

Economic data

Out today (India): the S&P Global India Services PMI eased to 53.1 in July from 57.4 — the softest expansion since February 2022 — as output and new-order growth slowed. It follows the RBI's Aug 5 decision to hold the repo rate, trim its FY27 inflation forecast to ~5% and peg GDP growth at 6.7%.

Tonight / tomorrow (US & global): US initial jobless claims are due today (forecast ~203k vs 197k prior) alongside productivity and unit-labour-cost data; the marquee event is Friday's US July non-farm payrolls, which will shape Fed rate-cut expectations (the prior print was +172k).

Sentiment & what to watch

The mood was selectively risk-on: Wall Street large-caps and Europe held near records, but Asian tech was hammered by AI-monetisation doubts — and India's flat-but-firm close looked like quiet outperformance against that backdrop. Watch tonight's US jobless claims and Friday's payrolls for the Fed signal, whether the AI-capex scare that sank the Kospi bleeds into Indian IT, and US–Iran/Hormuz headlines steering crude and gold. The Q1 earnings deluge (Trent, LIC, Hero MotoCorp, Britannia) should drive stock-specific moves into the weekly expiry.

As of 4:05 PM IST, Aug 6, 2026. Sources: Business Standard, S&P Global, Korea JoongAng Daily, Yahoo Finance, HDFC Sky, Finance Calendar. Automated market wrap for discussion and education only — not investment advice. Verify before acting.