Market Wrap: Sensex, Nifty End Choppy Week Lower as Crude Nears $94; Wall Street, Asia Rattled by Global Bond Market Turmoil; Gold Surges to 3-Month Highs
Global markets endured a genuinely turbulent week, dominated not by stocks but by bonds — a sharp sell-off in long-dated Treasuries around the world, a US national debt milestone of $40 trillion, and surging crude oil prices combined to keep investors on edge from Mumbai to New York. Indian benchmarks ended lower for the week despite a Friday rebound attempt, while Wall Street and most of Asia also finished in the red even after staging late-week recoveries. Gold, unsurprisingly, was one of the few clear winners.
Indian Markets: Sensex, Nifty Close Volatile Week Lower as Crude Oil Fuels Inflation Worries
The BSE Sensex ended Friday's session almost flat, up just 3.11 points, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 20.15 points, or 0.08%, to close at 24,252.00, as buying in metal and realty stocks offset selling across IT, FMCG, auto, media and pharma shares. For the week, the Nifty declined about 0.5% and the Sensex fell around 0.6%, even though both indices had staged a sharp rebound on Thursday — the Nifty snapping a seven-session losing streak and the Sensex ending a four-session slide — only to struggle for direction again on Friday.
The primary trigger was crude oil: Brent traded close to $94 a barrel and was headed for a second consecutive weekly gain amid growing concerns over supply disruptions linked to the US-Iran conflict, a level that raises red flags for India given its heavy reliance on imported crude. Higher energy costs threaten to widen the import bill, pressure the rupee, stoke inflation and squeeze margins for fuel-intensive businesses. Renewed pressure in global bond yields added to the cautious mood through the week. Maruti Suzuki, Trent, InterGlobe Aviation, Infosys and HCL Technologies were among the week's biggest laggards, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, Sun Pharma and Power Grid found buying support.
Asian Markets: Japan, Korea Hit by Bond Rout as China, Hong Kong Hold Firmer
Asian markets were sharply divided this week, largely along the same fault line as Wall Street: exposure to rising bond yields. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.30% on Friday to close at 66,016.36 — a steep weekly decline of nearly 4% — as Japan's own 10-year government bond yield surged to its highest level in three decades, hammering rate-sensitive technology and real-estate stocks that had powered the index's earlier rally. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.88% on Friday to 6,912.95, but still ended the week down roughly 1%, after a volatile stretch that briefly triggered a circuit breaker on the small-cap Kosdaq.
By contrast, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was one of the region's few bright spots, climbing around 1.2% on Friday to close near 26,009 — a strong weekly gain of close to 3.5% — led by healthcare and technology shares and buoyed by improving demand signals out of mainland China. China's Shanghai Composite ended nearly flat for the week at 3,905.20, as the People's Bank of China held its benchmark lending rates steady.
US Markets: Wall Street Rallies Friday But Still Posts a Losing Week Amid Bond Market Chaos
US equities capped an extraordinarily volatile week with a solid Friday rally, as the S&P 500 climbed 0.43% to close at 7,674.37, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.43% to 26,180.46, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped roughly 1% to around 53,280, aided by strong gains in Goldman Sachs and Merck. Despite Friday's bounce, all three major indexes still finished the week lower, as a relentless sell-off in long-dated US Treasuries — which pushed 30-year yields to levels not seen in nearly two decades — repeatedly rattled risk appetite, even after the Treasury Department announced an extraordinary plan to at least double its buybacks of longer-term government debt.
The turmoil came against the backdrop of the US national debt crossing the $40 trillion mark this week, and escalating rhetoric from President Trump, who threatened "tremendous economic consequences" for any country trading with Iran, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set to unveil details of a plan to economically isolate Tehran. Amid the chaos, Bitcoin surged to around $77,000, posting its best week in two years, while gold jumped to a three-month high near $4,569 an ounce, notching its fifth consecutive weekly gain and rising close to 5% over the week alone.
Crude Oil: Brent Nears $94 on Gulf Tensions, Second Straight Weekly Gain
Oil prices extended their climb this week, with Brent crude trading close to $93-94 a barrel — near one-month highs — as a diplomatic deadlock in the Gulf and the ongoing US-Iran conflict kept supply concerns elevated. WTI crude followed a similar path, trading around $86-87 a barrel. This marked Brent's second consecutive weekly advance, adding to worries among oil-importing economies, India included, about the inflationary impact of sustained crude prices above $90 a barrel.
Gold and Silver Prices in India Today
Gold continued its blistering rally in India this week, pushing to fresh highs as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid the global bond market turmoil and simmering Middle East tensions. As of today:
- 24-carat gold: approximately ₹15,928-16,048 per gram (around ₹1,59,280-1,60,480 per 10 grams)
- 22-carat gold: approximately ₹14,601-14,710 per gram
- 18-carat gold: approximately ₹12,036 per gram
- Silver: holding near ₹2,55,000 per kilogram
Gold has climbed roughly 10% in just the past three weeks, tracking a global rally that took international spot prices to their highest levels since June. Prices vary by city due to local levies and making charges, with Delhi and Hyderabad typically carrying a small premium. These figures exclude GST and other applicable charges — given how sharply prices have been moving, it's worth checking a live rate before publishing.
Rupee and Currency Markets
The Indian rupee stayed under pressure this week, with the US dollar trading around ₹95.7-95.75 by Friday, close to its weakest levels in recent months, as elevated crude oil prices and the global bond market sell-off weighed on sentiment.
Against other major currencies, the rupee stood at approximately:
- 1 US Dollar (USD) ≈ ₹95.7
- 1 Euro (EUR) ≈ ₹110.1
- 1 British Pound (GBP) ≈ ₹129.2
- 100 Japanese Yen (JPY) ≈ ₹60.6
Outlook
With global bond markets still searching for stability and crude oil prices climbing on unresolved Middle East tensions, investors face a genuinely uncertain backdrop heading into next week. Markets will be watching closely for details of the Trump administration's economic pressure campaign against Iran, expected via a Bessent press conference, along with any further signs of stress — or relief — in long-dated government bond yields worldwide. For Indian markets specifically, the trajectory of crude oil prices and their knock-on effects on inflation and the rupee are likely to remain the dominant themes, while gold's continued strength suggests global investors remain firmly in risk-off mode for now.
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*Note: Intraday prices for gold, silver, currencies, and crude fluctuate through the trading session — figures above reflect rates as reported through Friday, August 21, 2026.*