August 2026 in numbers: small caps near their high

The month in brief

August 2026 split the market in two. The Nifty 50 fell 1.2%, drifting down from a high of 24,774.30 on the first trading day of the month to 24,080.40 on 31 August. The Smallcap 250 rose 2.5% and ended 1.35% short of its September 2024 record, and the Midcap 150 set another record close.

Gold rose 9.1% and silver 14.6%, recovering part of June's losses. Foreign institutions sold a net ₹7,532 crore of shares, the eighth month of net selling this year; domestic institutions bought ₹58,268 crore. The rupee firmed slightly.

Figures compare 31 July with 31 August, the last trading days of the two months, unless another date is given.

Stocks

The Midcap 150 closed at a record 23,539.35 on 13 August and ended the month a hair below it, at 23,536.80. The Smallcap 250 closed at 18,496.15 on 28 August, its highest this year and within 0.7% of its record.

The year's split is now wide. The Smallcap 250 is up 10.1% for 2026 and the Nifty 50 down 7.8%, a gap of almost 18 points.

Nifty FMCG's 6.3% fall was the largest among the main sector indices, and it is now down 17.0% for the year, close to Nifty IT's 17.7%. Of the 139 NSE indices with a published P/E on both days, 69 rose.

India VIX stayed low all month, between 10.57 (26 August) and 12.25, and ended at 11.19. India VIX's calm looks at how low that is.

Funds

Median August return, Direct plan, Growth option, from 31 July NAV to 31 August NAV:

Every mid-cap and small-cap fund rose in August. For the year so far (31 December 2025 to 31 August 2026 NAVs), the median small-cap fund is up 16.22% and the median mid-cap fund 8.82%, while the median large-cap fund is down 2.46%. Mid-cap fund returns in August has the category in detail.

Gold and silver

International spot prices converted to rupees, before import duty and GST. Gold ended August 13.7% below its 29 January peak, and silver 40.0% below its 26 January peak. Silver fund returns shows how the swings reached funds.

Institutional flows

FIIs were net sellers on 10 of August's 21 sessions and DIIs net buyers on 19. For the year so far FII net selling totals ₹3,59,055 crore and DII net buying ₹5,63,505 crore. August's sale was the third-smallest of the year's eight, after July's ₹5,779 crore and February's ₹6,641 crore.

The rupee

The dollar went from about ₹95.68 on 31 July to ₹95.38 on 31 August, a fall of 0.3%, so the rupee firmed a little. Its weakest close remains ₹96.88 to the dollar, on 24 July.

What this does not tell you

A gap between large and small caps can close either way. The 18-point difference this year says how the two have done, not which will do better next.

Near a record is not at a record. The Smallcap 250 is still below its September 2024 high.

The flow figures are provisional, and metal prices exclude duty and GST. Nothing here is advice to buy or sell.

Where to go from here

The live numbers are on NSE index valuations, gold and silver prices and FII and DII data. Equal weight vs the Nifty 50 compares the headline index with an equal-weighted version of it this year, and July is in July 2026 in numbers.