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Benchmarks continue to reel under pressure in morning deals
May-18-2026

Indian equity benchmarks continued to reel under pressure in morning deals amid surging oil prices, weak global market trends after fresh escalation in tensions in West Asia. A drone attack targeted the Barakah nuclear facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking a dangerous escalation in the West Asia conflict. Traders remained cautious with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal’s statement that India's merchandise exports with the West Asian region declined by over 28 per cent in April, amid severe disruptions in ship movements following the war involving the US, Israel and Iran. Traders took a note of Moody's Ratings’ report stated that India and other major oil-importing nations (China, Japan and South Korea) are likely to pursue bilateral negotiations with Iran to secure energy supplies, potentially through coordinated transit corridors. However, it cautioned that a return to pre-war traffic volumes is doubtful in 2026. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after the U.S. allowed a waiver on Russian oil sales to expire and several Gulf countries reported drone attacks, sending oil prices sharply higher and marking a dangerous escalation in the Middle East conflict. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74330.66, down by 907.33 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 74180.26 and 74807.97. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was TECK up by 0.12%, while Consumer Durables down by 3.07%, Industrials down by 2.63%, Realty down by 2.60%, Capital Goods down by 2.58% and Utilities down by 2.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.99%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.65%, ITC up by 0.55% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 4.32%, Tata Steel down by 3.94%, Eternal down by 2.90%, Trent down by 2.83% and SBI down by 2.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose by 13.78 per cent to $43.56 billion in April 2026 as compared to $38.28 billion in April 2025 despite supply-chain disruptions linked to the crisis in West Asia. This is highest monthly outbound shipments in more than four years, driven by petroleum products amid a surge in crude oil prices. Merchandise imports also grew by 10 per cent year-on-year to a six-month high of $71.94 billion in April 2026 as compared to $ 65.38 billion in April 2025. 

However, data showed trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) widened to a three-month high of $28.38 billion in April 2026 due to an uptick in imports. The trade deficit was $27.1 billion in April 2025 and $20.67 billion in March 2026. 

According to the data, non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in April 2026 were $31.64 billion as compared to $28.66 billion in April 2025. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in April 2026 were $45.87 billion as compared to $39.75 billion in April 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23413.65, down by 229.85 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 23317.10 and 23494.60. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.09%, Infosys up by 0.80%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.76%, ITC up by 0.73% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 4.28%, Tata Steel down by 3.64%, Eternal down by 2.85%, Trent down by 2.71% and Shriram Finance down by 2.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 399.29 points or 0.65% to 61,010.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 160.32 points or 0.39% to 41,012.04, Jakarta Composite plunged 252.84 points or 3.76% to 6,470.48, Hang Seng declined 277.73 points or 1.07% to 25,685.00 and Straits Times fell 23.26 points or 0.47% to 4,965.82.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.63 points or 0.02% to 4,136.02 and KOSPI increased 56.91 points or 0.76% to 7,550.09.
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