HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Indices continue to witness gains in late morning deals
May-19-2026

Indian equity markets continued to witness gains and were trading higher by over a quarter percent in late morning deals, driven by hectic buying in Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies and Eternal companies’ stocks. Sentiments got boost as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,813.69 crore on May 18, 2026. There was some encouragement in markets as Indian envoy to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, said that India's economic transformation since 2014 has been the anchor point of its expanding engagement with the US. Kwatra said the passage of the SHANTI Act has unlocked opportunities for private sector collaboration in the civil nuclear power domain. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen piling up positions in IT, TECK, Realty, Oil & Gas and Consumer Disc, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Telecom and Metal. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite U.S. President Donald Trump said he would postpone a planned military strike on Iran following requests from key Middle Eastern leaders, easing fears of an imminent escalation that could disrupt global crude supplies. Back home, in the stock specific development, Indian Oil Corporation surged as the company received nod to form Joint Venture for setting up sustainable aviation fuel project.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75522.48, up by 207.44 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 75371.07 and 75746.27. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.73%, TECK up by 2.10%, Realty up by 1.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.99% and Consumer Disc up by 0.83%, while Bankex down by 0.12%, Telecom down by 0.10% and Metal down by 0.05% were few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 4.90%, Infosys up by 4.03%, TCS up by 3.25%, HCL Technologies up by 2.34% and Eternal up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.09%, ICICI Bank down by 1.01%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.77% and Sun Pharma down by 0.46% were the top losers. 

Meanwhile, Aparna S Sharma, Additional Secretary, Department of Fertilisers has said the government's fertiliser subsidy bill for fiscal year 2026-27 is likely to rise by Rs 70,000 crore, reaching Rs 2.41 lakh crore, due to higher import costs of urea and other fertilisers amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia. The budgetary allocation for fertiliser subsidies in 2026-27 stands at Rs 1.71 lakh crore. Despite rising cost pressures, Sharma stated that fertiliser availability for the 2026 kharif season is comfortable, with stocks exceeding 51 per cent of the total requirement of 390 lakh tonne, the gap being bridged through diversified import sourcing. She said current fertiliser stocks stand at 200.9 lakh tonne.

Domestic fertiliser production is currently around 80,000 tonnes per day. Since the start of the West Asia crisis, total output has reached 86.2 lakh tonnes, slightly below the 93 lakh tonne recorded in the year-ago period. She noted ‘There is a small shortfall which we hope to cover in the coming months.’ Moreover, she said sufficient gas supply is available for urea plants. India has been actively diversifying import routes to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, with more than 22 lakh tonnes of fertilisers already received. 

Through a consortium-based procurement approach, the country has secured around 13.5 lakh tonne of Di-Ammonium Phosphate and 7 lakh tonne of NPK complex, besides ammonium sulphate, phosphate, and other raw materials. The Department of Fertilisers is also reviewing availability of other inputs for urea and complex fertiliser manufacture. Subsidy disbursements are being cleared weekly via the Integrated Fertilizer Management System. Sharma said ‘Overall, the situation remains strong, stable and comfortable.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23727.85, up by 77.90 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 23647.40 and 23782.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.18%, Infosys up by 4.05%, TCS up by 3.48%, Tata MotorsPassenger up by 3.27% and HCL Technologies up by 2.90%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.48%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.31%, ICICI Bank down by 1.08%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01% and Tata Consumer down by 0.87% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 351.95 points or 0.58% to 60,464.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 671.96 points or 1.67% to 40,219.86, Jakarta Composite plunged 202.97 points or 3.17% to 6,396.27 and KOSPI dropped 195.04 points or 2.59% to 7,321.00. However, Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.29 points or 0.39% to 4,147.82, Hang Seng advanced 50.82 points or 0.2% to 25,726.00 and Straits Times rose 38.1 points or 0.76% to 5,034.85.
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.