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Markets trade under pressure amid global jitters
May-20-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday amid weak global cues and rising geopolitical tensions. Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with cut of around 0.40% each in early deals as investors remained worried about rising crude oil prices, the falling rupee, foreign investor selling and growing tensions in West Asia. The rupee fell to a fresh lifetime low of 96.8650 against the US dollar on Wednesday, crossing its earlier record low of 96.6150 touched in the previous session. Also, renewed selling by foreign investors dented the sentiments in the markets. Data on the NSE showed that the foreign investors sold Rs 2,457.49 crore worth of assets in a single day on Tuesday’s market session over fears of a falling rupee and elevated oil rates in the market. 

Some cautiousness came as Ind-Ra projected India's economic growth to decelerate to 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal year on slowdown in demand and supply. However, downside remained capped on account of buying in IT and Teck stocks, led by gains in Infosys, Tech Mahindra and TCS.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower as investors' sentiment remained weak after US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a ‘big hit’ if no agreement is reached soon. Persistent US-Iran tensions triggered concerns over higher inflation, pushing US bond yields sharply higher. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74908.74, down by 292.11 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 74529.41 and 74934.34. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.52%, Healthcare up by 0.39% and TECK up by 0.12%, while PSU down by 1.13%, Realty down by 1.00%, Bankex down by 0.77%, Basic Materials down by 0.77%, Oil & Gas down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.66%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.60%, TCS up by 0.30%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.29% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Bharat Electronics down by 2.88%, Tata Steel down by 2.53%, Eternal down by 1.32%, SBI down by 1.19% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid ongoing uncertainty over West Aisa crisis, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has projected India's economic growth to slow down to 6.7% in the current fiscal year (FY27) on decelerated demand and supply. The agency believes higher fuel and food prices due to the West Asia conflict's uncertainty and the likely impact of evolving El Nino on agriculture from mid-2026 will pull down GDP growth in FY27. Besides, Indian economy is estimated to have grown 7.6% in FY26. It also said that retail inflation is likely to stay within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) tolerance band at 4.4% despite recent fuel price hikes. Ind-Ra's projections are lower when compares to 6.9% GDP growth and 4.6% inflation projection by the RBI. 

Ind-Ra Director - Economics Megha Arora said ‘Major headwinds include geopolitical developments, particularly the West Asia conflict, high headline inflation, a depreciated currency from weak capital inflows, weaker-than-expected capex especially by the government to reduce fiscal risks, weak global trade growth, strong FY26 growth (base effect), low industrial production as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), and notably, the likely El Nino weather pattern from mid-2026’.

The agency has assumed average oil prices at $95/bbl in FY27 and expects the government, oil marketing companies and consumers to share the burden of high global oil prices with consumers sharing the least burden. It estimates that a $10/bbl increase in crude oil prices could reduce GDP growth by 44 bps, while a 10% reduction in capex could lower GDP growth to 6%. 

It expects the government to announce easy access to credit and measures like credit guarantees as opposed to direct cash transfers to shield people and small industries from the impact of the West Asia crisis. For the April-June quarter of the current fiscal year, Ind-Ra estimates GDP growth at 6.7 per cent and said the El Nino impact is likely to be felt more in July-September quarter, as against the June quarter. Ind-Ra estimates rupee-dollar exchange rate to average Rs 94.28, a depreciation of 6.7 per cent year-on-year in FY27. The Indian rupee touched a record low of 96.47 to a dollar on May 19, 2026.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23524.25, down by 93.75 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 23397.30 and 23536.90. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.63%, Cipla up by 0.68%, Infosys up by 0.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.48% and TCS up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Bharat Electronics down by 2.85%, Tata Steel down by 2.56%, JSW Steel down by 1.66%, Eternal down by 1.42% and SBI down by 1.22% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 842.59 points or 1.39% to 59,708.00, Hang Seng declined 145.85 points or 0.57% to 25,652.00, KOSPI dropped 100.67 points or 1.38% to 7,170.99, Jakarta Composite lost 61.55 points or 0.97% to 6,309.13, Straits Times fell 41.48 points or 0.82% to 5,030.86, Shanghai Composite weakened 18.56 points or 0.45% to 4,150.98 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 8.93 points or 0.02% to 40,166.63.
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