With two hours left in today’s session, Nifty 50 is holding just below 24,400 while gold has punched past the ₹1.5 lakh mark for the first time and Bitcoin trades steady near ₹64 lakh. Here’s your 2 PM markets update.
📈 Afternoon Session: Market Snapshot
Benchmark indices opened cautiously amid Middle East tensions before clawing back some ground. As of 1:00 PM, the Nifty 50 was at 24,370.50, down 65.45 points (-0.27%), while the Sensex stood at 77,869.16, down 97.19 points (-0.12%). The indices had opened flat-to-positive earlier in the day — Sensex up 145.56 points at 78,111.91 and Nifty down a marginal 4.35 points at 24,431.60 — before slipping into a small, rangebound band through the afternoon. Sugar stocks were the standout movers, rallying as much as 7% on the day. From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, IndiGo, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Eternal led gainers, while M&M, Kotak Bank, Maruti, Titan and Power Grid dragged. PSU banks and metals held up better than IT and FMCG, which weighed on the broader tape.
₿ Crypto at 2 PM — Live Prices
Bitcoin was trading near $63,798.81 (about ₹64,08,190, roughly ₹64.08 lakh), largely flat over the past 24 hours. Ethereum held around $1,915 (approximately ₹1,82,600). On the news front, Bitwise confirmed a 14% workforce cut as crypto firms tighten spending, the CFTC invoked emergency authority to keep prediction-market platform Kalshi operating amid a $36 billion lawsuit, and Russia’s central bank published a draft framework letting non-qualified retail investors trade Bitcoin, Ether and USDT through licensed brokers.
💰 Live Rates — 2 PM IST
| Asset | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 24,370.50 | -0.27% |
| Sensex | 77,869.16 | -0.12% |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | ₹64,08,190 / $63,798.81 | ~flat 24hr |
| Ethereum (ETH) | ₹1,82,600 / $1,915 | up on the day |
| Gold (10g, 24K) | ₹1,55,130 | +0.47% |
| Silver (1kg) | ₹2,55,000 | flat |
| USD/INR | ₹95.34 | – |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | $87.92 | -1.19% |
📰 Top 5 Financial News Stories of the Day
- Gold crosses ₹1.5 lakh mark, silver tops ₹2.5 lakh/kg — 24K gold jumped Rs 31,600 over three sessions to hit Rs 1,55,130 per 10 grams, while silver held at Rs 2,55,000 per kilogram. The rally reflects safe-haven buying tied to Fed rate-cut bets and lingering geopolitical tension in the Middle East.
- Sensex, Nifty slip at open on Middle East tensions, then stabilise — Indian benchmarks opened lower on geopolitical jitters before trimming losses through the morning. Volatility remains contained, with traders favouring sector rotation and stock-specific bets over broad index moves.
- Sugar stocks surge up to 7% — Sugar counters were the session’s biggest movers, rallying sharply amid renewed demand and pricing optimism, standing out against an otherwise muted broader market.
- FIIs turn net sellers, DIIs stay marginal buyers — Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,002.50 crore in the most recent session, while Domestic Institutional Investors were modest net buyers at Rs 24.80 crore, underscoring a cautious tug-of-war between foreign and local flows.
- Bitwise cuts 14% of staff as crypto industry tightens belts — The asset manager’s layoffs add to signs of consolidation pressure across crypto firms even as Bitcoin holds above $63,000 and regulators, including Russia’s central bank, move to formalise retail crypto access.
🌐 Global Markets & Tomorrow’s Outlook
Global cues remain mixed heading into the close, with elevated crude prices and ongoing US-Iran tensions acting as a headwind even as softer expectations around an immediate Fed rate move offer some support. Investors will watch for fresh US economic data and any escalation on the geopolitical front overnight. For Indian markets tomorrow, expect a cautiously positive-to-rangebound start, with sector rotation likely to continue dominating over broad index direction.
Data sourced from live market feeds. Last updated: 2:00 PM IST, 13 August 2026. This is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.
