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Key gauges end marginally higher on Monday
May-18-2026

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Monday after facing sharp losses in intraday trade, supported by value buying in IT, TECK and Healthcare stocks. However, a weak rupee against the US dollar and rising global crude prices amid escalated tensions in West Asia capped the gains.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India sees 13.78% rise in merchandise exports in April: 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. 

India may negotiate Iran-backed oil corridors as Hormuz recovery looks distant: Moody's Ratings has said that India and other oil importing nations are likely to negotiate bilaterally to secure energy supplies, potentially through coordinated transit corridors, but a return to pre-war traffic volumes is unlikely in 2026. 

India's unemployment rate hits six-month high of 5.2% in April: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has showed that India's unemployment rate (UR) among persons of age 15 years and above inched higher to 5.2% in April 2026 from 5.1% in the previous month, reflecting the highest ratio since October of the previous year.

India, Netherlands enhance collaboration through new 17 agreements: India and the Netherlands have deepened their cooperation by entering into a strategic partnership and signing 17 agreements in areas such as defence, critical minerals, and other key sectors during a meeting between PM Narendra Modi and his Dutch counterpart, Rob Jetten, amid changing global geopolitical dynamics. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in red as investors remained focused on escalating tensions in the Middle East. Asian markets ended mostly lower as oil and global bond yields spiked amid rising U.S.-Iran tensions. A raft of Chinese data signaling slowing economic momentum in April also kept investors on edge.  

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 77.05 points or 0.10% to 75,315.04 and the CNX Nifty was up by 6.45 points or 0.03% to 23,649.95. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 75,466.60 and 74,180.26, respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.95%, TECK up by 1.78%, Healthcare up by 0.22% and Telecom up by 0.05%, while Auto down by 1.74%, PSU down by 1.60%, Consumer Disc down by 1.26%, Metal down by 1.13% and Utilities down by 1.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 4.39%, Infosys up by 2.15%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.76%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.52% and Sun Pharma up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.21%, Power Grid Corporation down by 3.07%, SBI down by 2.38%, NTPC down by 1.86% and Trent down by 1.68% 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.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 23,695.65 and 23,317.10, respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 2 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 4.85%, Infosys up by 2.38%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.66%, Sun Pharma up by 1.37% and Wipro up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.15%, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.93%, NTPC down by 2.62%, SBI down by 2.53% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.83% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 57.35 points or 0.73% to 7,895.20 and Germany’s DAX lost 22.47 points or 0.09% to 23,928.10, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 19.01 points or 0.19% to 10,214.38.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday tracking Wall Street’s fall last Friday, as spiking crude oil prices and global bond yields revived inflation fears, and a raft of Chinese data signalled slowing economic momentum in April. Meanwhile, a drone strike caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones, escalating regional tensions. US President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Iran on Sunday, saying it had to move quickly towards a peace deal or ‘there won't be anything left of them’. Japanese shares declined as technology-related stocks succumbed to profit taking following recent strong gains. Besides, the 10-year Japanese government bond yield climbed to its multi-decade high due to intensifying inflation concerns and Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hike expectations. However, Seoul shares recovered from an early slide, with Samsung Electronics jumped 3.9% after South Korea’s government stepped in to help avert a looming labour union strike.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,131.53

-3.86

-0.09

Hang Seng

25,675.18

-287.55

-1.11

Jakarta Composite

6,599.24

-124.08

-1.88

KLSE Composite

1,727.71

-12.51

-0.72

Nikkei 225

60,815.95

-593.34

-0.97

Straits Times

4,996.75

7.67

0.15

KOSPI Composite

7,516.04

22.86

0.31

Taiwan Weighted

40,891.82

-280.54

-0.68
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