Indian stock markets experienced a subdued start on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, with both the Sensex and Nifty indices showing initial weakness. The Sensex fell over 170 points, while the Nifty was trading below the 24,550 mark. This tepid opening followed a strong rally in the previous session, driven by broad-based buying and short covering.

Market Influences and Global Cues

The Indian market's initial weakness mirrored mixed cues from global markets. While most Asian markets edged higher, boosted by the extension of the US-China tariff truce, Wall Street closed lower overnight, reflecting investor caution. The US-China trade relations continue to be a key factor influencing market sentiment. The extension of the tariff truce for another 90 days provided some relief, but investors remain watchful.

Sectoral Performance and Key Stocks

On Monday, August 11, the Indian market witnessed strong value buying, with most sectoral indices ending the day in the green, except for Nifty Consumer Durables. Nifty PSU Banks, Realty, Healthcare, and Auto led the charge, signaling a widespread return of investor confidence. However, on August 12, early trading saw banking stocks dipping.

Hindalco Industries: Shares of Hindalco Industries experienced a decline of around 2% in early trading. This drop followed a report of a 36% year-on-year decline in net profit from Novelis, Hindalco's US-based subsidiary. Despite the decline, Nuvama has maintained a "Buy" rating on Hindalco shares, with a target price of Rs 776, expecting earnings to bottom out and a recovery by Q1. Hindalco Industries Ltd fell 2.01% today to trade at Rs 658.3.

ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank was also trading lower, down by 0.72% at Rs 1,426.35 compared to its last closing price. The stock traded in a price range of Rs 1,429.30 and Rs 1,421.40. Despite the dip, ICICI Bank has given 16.13% returns this year and 1.54% in the last 5 days. The company's board has declared a dividend of ₹11 per equity share, with August 12, 2025, being the record date.

Nifty Technical Outlook

According to Nilesh Jain, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research Analyst at Centrum Broking, Nifty 50 regained its 100-DMA, aligning with the psychological mark of 24,500, which now acts as immediate support. The price structure indicates scope for a further pullback towards 24,750, with the short-term bias turning mildly positive due to a short-covering rally. Vaishali Parekh, Vice President — Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market sentiment has turned positive after the pullback in the Nifty 50 index from 24,350 levels.

Bank Nifty Technical Outlook

The Bank Nifty index gained 505.85 points on the previous day, forming a strong bullish candle. Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, noted that the zone of 55,800 - 55,900 will act as an immediate hurdle for the index, while the zone of 55,100 - 55,000 will act as crucial support.

Overall Market Sentiment

Overall, the Indian stock market is expected to remain range-bound in the near term, with key support and resistance levels to watch out for. Investors will be closely monitoring earnings releases from various companies and awaiting India's consumer price index (CPI) data for July.