Daily Edition
| NIFTY 50 | 24,317 | ▲ 0.28% |
| NIFTY Bank | 57,148 | ▼ 0.10% |
| NIFTY IT | 31,195 | ▲ 0.23% |
| India VIX | 12.16 | ▲ 1.22% |
| SENSEX | 77,928 | ▲ 0.35% |
| USD / INR (ref.) | 95.65 | ▼ 0.22% |
| Gold (COMEX, US$/oz) | 4,153 (≈ ₹1,27,723/10g) | ▲ 2.94% |
| Brent Crude (US$) | 89.52 | ▼ 1.34% |
Provisional cash-market flows: FIIs net bought ₹3,623.51 cr · DIIs net sold ₹1,864.03 cr.
Source: FII/FPI & DII trading activity on NSE, BSE & MSEI, Capital Market segment. Provisional, subject to revision.
NIFTY edges higher as FIIs return to buying
Indian benchmark indices closed modestly higher on Thursday, with the NIFTY 50 ending at 24,317 and the SENSEX at 77,928, supported by net foreign institutional buying even as bond markets came under pressure.
The NIFTY 50 gained 0.28 percent and the SENSEX rose 0.35 percent by the close of trade. Sectoral performance was mixed: the NIFTY IT index added 0.23 percent, while the NIFTY Bank index slipped marginally by 0.10 percent. Among individual movers, M&M, Coal India, and Maruti Suzuki were counted among the session's top gainers on the NIFTY, while Adani Ports and HDFC Life featured among the laggards. The India VIX, a measure of near-term volatility expectations, edged up 1.22 percent to 12.16, reflecting a mild increase in caution among market participants.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the cash segment to the tune of approximately Rs 3,624 crore, providing a degree of support to equity markets. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), by contrast, were net sellers of roughly Rs 1,864 crore. The Indian rupee closed at approximately 95.68 against the US dollar, broadly flat on the day, with the Reserve Bank of India reported to have intervened in currency markets to limit volatility. Indian government bonds declined for a third consecutive session, weighed down by rising US Treasury yields and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region. Gold on COMEX rose sharply by 2.94 percent to USD 4,153 per ounce, equivalent to roughly Rs 1,27,723 per 10 grams, as investors sought haven assets amid the same geopolitical concerns. Brent crude fell 1.34 percent to USD 89.52 per barrel.
Fed holds; BoE steady; Middle East in focus
- US Federal Reserve. The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at its July policy meeting, a decision that was broadly in line with market expectations and provided some relief to equity markets. Following the decision, J.P. Morgan brought forward its forecast for the next Fed rate hike to December 2026, citing persistent inflation risks.
- Bank of England. The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate steady at 3.75 percent at its latest meeting. However, three of its policymakers voted in favour of a hike, citing rising Middle East tensions and an inflation outlook that is expected to reach 3.2 percent. UK gilt yields and sterling dipped modestly following the announcement.
- Crude oil. Brent crude fell 1.34 percent to USD 89.52 per barrel on Thursday, though elevated geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to keep energy markets on edge. European energy stocks gained on the day even as broader European indices traded in a narrow range.
- Gold. Gold on COMEX rose nearly 3 percent to USD 4,153 per ounce, reflecting increased demand for haven assets as Middle East tensions escalated and uncertainty over the global interest rate path persisted.
- US markets. The US equity session for Thursday was yet to open at the time of writing this wrap, as US markets open at approximately 7:00 pm IST. Any developments from that session will be covered in the next edition.
Price return vs total return: why the index number you see may not tell the whole story
When you see the NIFTY 50 close at 24,317, as it did today, that figure comes from a price-return index. It captures the movement of the share prices of the 50 constituent companies. If those prices rise, the index rises; if they fall, it falls. What it does not capture is the dividends that those companies pay out to their shareholders over time. Dividends leave the company and go to investors, but the share price typically drops by a similar amount on the ex-dividend date — and a price-return index simply records that price drop without accounting for the cash the investor received.
A price-return index tracks only the change in market prices, while a total-return index also reinvests dividends — and over time, the gap between the two can be substantial.
A total-return index corrects for this by assuming that every dividend paid by a constituent stock is immediately reinvested back into the index. This gives a more complete picture of the actual wealth accumulation an investor would have experienced had they held all 50 stocks continuously and reinvested every rupee of dividend income. NSE does publish a total-return version of the NIFTY 50, often referred to as NIFTY 50 TRI. Over periods of a year or two the difference between the two versions may appear small, but over a decade or more the gap can become quite large, because reinvested dividends compound alongside price gains.
This distinction matters practically in at least two ways. First, when evaluating the performance of a mutual fund, SEBI requires fund houses to benchmark their returns against the total-return index rather than the price-return index. This is a fairer comparison, because a fund manager actually receives and reinvests dividends from the stocks the fund holds, and a total-return benchmark reflects that same advantage. Second, understanding this difference helps investors read performance data more carefully — a fund that appears to lag the headline price-return index by a small margin may in fact be tracking its proper total-return benchmark closely. The number you see on a financial website is most commonly the price-return figure, so it is worth confirming which version is being used before drawing conclusions about relative performance.
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