Buy or sell: Gift Nifty signals flat start | Vaishali Parekh recommends three stocks to buy today — 31 August 2026

Buy or sell indicator, 31 August 2026: The key benchmark indices of the Indian stock market are expected to trade with a cautious bias as renewed US-Iran military escalation revives concerns over global energy supplies, triggering a rebound in crude oil prices and prompting a broader risk-off tone across Asian markets. The Gift Nifty live chart is trading around 24,200, which is just 25 points above Friday's spot Nifty 50 close of 24,175.

Gift Nifty live chart signalling flat-to-negative start

The Gift Nifty live chart is trading around 24,200, just above Friday's spot Nifty 50 close. However, the index is trading around 100 points below its previous close, signalling a flat-to-negative opening for the Indian stock market.

Vaishali Parekh, Vice President — Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market is expected to trade flat to negative, as the Gift Nifty index is trading around Friday's spot Nifty 50 close and nearly 100 points below its previous close.

Stock market today

Speaking on the outlook for the Nifty 50 today, Vaishali Parekh said the 50-stock index sustained near the 24100 zone during the session and witnessed a revival in the final hours, closing in the green near the 24200 level, with bias maintained in a cautiously positive approach as of now.

“With overall consolidation visible, as mentioned earlier, the index would continue to have the important resistance hurdle of 24,400 zone, which needs to be breached decisively to expect a fresh further upward move, and on the downside, the 23800 zone shall be the important and crucial support area, which needs to be sustained to maintain the overall trend intact,” said Parekh.

On the outlook for the Bank Nifty today, the Prabhudas Lilladher expert said, the key benchmark index continues to remain stagnant and has been in a consolidation period for quite a long time, gripped between the tight range of 58,000 and the 50-EMA zone at 57,200 levels and would desperately need a decisive breach on either side to establish a directional move in the coming days.

“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.

Vaishali Parekh's stock recommendations for today

Regarding buy-or-sell stocks for intraday trading, Vaishali Parekh recommended three stocks to buy today: KPIT Technologies, Sun Pharma Advanced Research, and Viyash Scientific.

1] KPIT Technologies: Buy at ₹610, Target ₹620, Stop Loss ₹600;

2] Sun Pharma Advanced Research: Buy at ₹205, Target ₹220, Stop Loss ₹198; and

3] Viyash Scientific: Buy at ₹267, Target ₹285, Stop Loss ₹257.

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.