Buy or sell: Gift Nifty signals gap-up start | Vaishali Parekh recommends three stocks to buy today — 26 August 2026

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Buy or sell indicator: Indian equities are set for a firm start on Wednesday, with GIFT Nifty signalling a higher opening after the benchmark indices delivered their strongest close since the introduction of the Closing Auction Session (CAS). The improvement in technical momentum is being reinforced by a more supportive global backdrop, led by easing crude oil prices and a resilient US stock market, providing investors with a stronger foundation than in recent weeks.
The Gift Nifty live chart is trading more than 200 points higher than Tuesday's spot Nifty 50 close of 24,334. The index is trading more than 50 points above its previous close as well.
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President — Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market may open with a big gap-up, as the index is trading more than 200 points above yesterday's Nifty 50 close. She said the index is trading above its previous close, which augurs well for bulls during the Opening Bell today.
Speaking on the outlook for the Nifty 50 today, Vaishali Parekh said, the 50-stock index has almost indicated a bullish engulfing pattern on the daily chart, sustaining above the important 50-EMA at the 24,200 zone to improve the bias and can expect further rise in the coming days with the bias maintained with an optimistic approach.
“The Nifty 50 index would have the important resistance hurdle of the 24,400 zone, which needs to be breached decisively to establish further conviction, whereas the 24,000 level shall be the near-term important support, which needs to be sustained to maintain the overall outlook intact,” said Parekh.
On the outlook for the Bank Nifty today, Parekh said, the key benchmark index continues to remain stagnant, hovering near the important 200-period MA at the 57,450 zone for quite some time and has been sustaining above the 50-EMA at the 57,200 level, maintaining the bias intact with consolidation visible on the daily chart.
“The Bank Nifty index would need a decisive breakthrough above the tough resistance hurdle of the 58,500 zone to establish conviction, whereas the important and major support would be positioned near the 100-period MA at the 56,000 level, which needs to be sustained to maintain the trend intact,” said Parekh.
Regarding buy-or-sell stocks for today, Vaishali Parekh recommended three stocks to buy today: Astral, Sai Life Sciences, and ICICI Bank.
1] Astral: Buy at ₹1530, Target ₹1560, Stop Loss ₹1515;
2] Sai Life Sciences: Buy at ₹1440, Target ₹1480, Stop Loss ₹1420; and
3] ICICI Bank: Buy at ₹1418, Target ₹1445, Stop Loss ₹1400.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational and informational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified financial experts before making any investment decisions.
Asit Manohar has nearly two decades of experience in the mainstream media. In this period, he has served esteemed media organisations like NDTV Profit, The Economic Times, and Zee Business. He has been working at LiveMint Digital since April 2021. During these two decades of journey in mainstream media, Asit has mainly covered external affairs, markets and personal finance. However, his earliest beats include railways, SME, MSME, and politics (Congress beat). Some of his features on political, economic, and foreign policy are documented in the parliamentary records. <br><br> While pursuing his MA (Mass Communication, Session 2004-06), Asit began his media career as a stringer at All India Radio in Varanasi. At AIR Varanasi, Asit worked with the Gyanvani, Yuvvani and Vividh Bharti teams. After working for nearly one year at AIR Varanasi, he shifted to print journalism and started working as a stringer for the HT Media Ltd, Varanasi. At HT Media Ltd in Varanasi, he covered the BHU beat. <br><br> Asit has also worked with some brokerage houses. He has worked with Religare Broking and India Infoline, where he assisted the research team in developing and executing trade strategies for intraday cash, F&O, and commodities. <br><br> Asit is a Gold Medalist in MA (Mass Communication) from BHU, Varanasi. He did his BSc. (Hons) in Mathematics from Magadh University, Bodh Gaya. Asit was a National Talent Scholarship holder during his senior secondary studies (1988-91).
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