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Sensex, Nifty maintain firm trade in early noon deals
May-19-2026

Indian equity benchmarks were trading range-bound in green terrain during early afternoon session, with IT and TECK stocks witnessing strong gains, despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Traders took a note of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s statement that India has set a target of achieving exports worth 1 trillion dollars this year and 2 trillion dollars over the next five years, asserting that this would be the true hallmark of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. However, gains remained capped, as Crisil in its latest report has said that rising crude prices, weakening petroleum exports and heavy dependence on imported oil are likely to push India’s oil trade deficit higher in FY27, straining external balances

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after Japan's industrial output decreased slightly less than initially estimated at the end of the first quarter. Industrial production dropped 0.4 percent monthly in March, slower than the 2.0 percent fall in February.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75619.68, up by 304.64 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 75371.07 and 75746.27. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.31%, Realty up by 2.10%, TECK up by 1.95%, Utilities up by 1.21% and Consumer Disc up by 1.06%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 4.04%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.60%, Eternal up by 2.88%, HCL Tech. up by 2.67% and TCS up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.66%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.06%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01%, Titan down by 0.77% and Sun Pharma down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Niti Aayog, in its report titled Ease of Doing Research & Development in India - Removing Obstacles, Promoting Enablers, has said that India should significantly enhance its investment in research and development from the current level of 0.64% to at least 2% of GDP in the next four to five years to strengthen the country's R&D ecosystem. It pointed that the level of investment relative to GDP remains low despite overall allocations increasing in absolute terms. It also noted that the funding ecosystem continues to be heavily dependent on public sources, with limited participation from the private sector and philanthropic institutions. This is compounded by inefficiencies in the way funds are allocated, disbursed, and utilised.

Besides, it said that current fund flow mechanisms, coupled with accounting and compliance requirements, often result in delays, disruptions, and underutilisation of resources. Issues, such as limited overhead provisions and cumbersome procurement procedures, further constrain the effective use of funds, ultimately affecting the pace and quality of research. It also highlighted that challenges related to human resources, which form the backbone of any research ecosystem. It noted that despite India's large pool of young talent, the overall density of researchers remains low, and the system struggles to attract and retain high-quality human capital. 

In order to support R&D procurement, it has suggested the government should consider restoring a 5% GST slab for R&D procurement. It also added that the country needs to introduce time-bound, incremental fiscal incentives to boost private sector investment in R&D. Moreover, Niti Aayog has emphasized on creating an inter-departmental committee within the Ministry of Science & Technology, which meets at regular intervals, to target synergy and complementarity of schemes and calls across constituent departments and funding agencies, and ensure avoiding or minimising duplication of schemes across departments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23738.05, up by 88.10 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 23647.40 and 23782.30. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 4.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.72%, Tata Motors Passenger up by 3.31%, Eternal up by 2.77% and HCL Tech. up by 2.66%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.74%, Coal India down by 1.21%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.15%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.04% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.01 points or 0.91% to 4,169.54, Straits Times rose 44.85 points or 0.9% to 5,041.60, Nikkei 225 slipped 396.95 points or 0.66% to 60,419.00, and Hang Seng advanced 154.82 points or 0.6% to 25,830.00, while Jakarta Composite plunged 228.64 points or 3.46% to 6,370.60, KOSPI dropped 244.38 points or 3.36% to 7,271.66 and Taiwan Weighted lost 716.26 points or 1.78% to 40,175.56.
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