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Sensex, Nifty back in green during early noon deals
Jun-18-2026

Indian equity markets came back in green terrain during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding their heads above water, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Utilities and Realty counters. Sentiments were upbeat after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but the latest set of projections suggested there could be at least one increase to its main rate this year. Besides, with an aim to deepen economic ties and strengthen bilateral trade, the free trade agreement between India and the UK will formally enter into force on July 15, 2026, after resolving a steel issue.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Singapore's non-oil domestic export growth quickened sharply in May. The data from Enterprise Singapore showed that non-oil domestic exports grew 38.4 percent year-over-year in April, much faster than the 24.4 percent rise in the previous month. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77275.13, up by 119.51 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 76953.00 and 77323.75. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.94%, Realty up by 0.91%, Power up by 0.62%, Bankex up by 0.60% and PSU up by 0.56%, while IT down by 1.20%, TECK down by 0.87%, Consumer Durables down by 0.27%, Energy down by 0.26% and Oil & Gas down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Trent up by 2.26%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.20%, SBI up by 1.37%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.24% and NTPC up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.28%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65%, TCS down by 1.60%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.26% and Titan down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency Crisil has flagged a 10-15% decline in the operating profit of domestic airlines in this fiscal (FY26), weighed by elevated aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, airspace restrictions and rupee depreciation amid the West Asia conflict. It noted that the conflict has led to a sharp average increase of over 50% in global ATF prices versus the pre-conflict levels, significantly raising the airlines’ operating cost as fuel accounts for 40-50% of that cost. Although global ATF prices have begun to ease from around $145 per barrel (week ending June 05, 2026) to below around $125 currently they remain significantly above the average of around $90 last fiscal. 

Further, Crisil pointed that the first quarter of this fiscal has borne the brunt of the price spike, overall fuel costs for the full fiscal will remain high despite ease in fuel prices led by a potential resolution of the conflict. However, the government of India’s measure of 25% cap on domestic ATF price increase starting April 01, 2026, has partially cushioned airlines from the immediate post-conflict spike in fuel cost. It highlighted that the cost pressure has been exacerbated by the depreciation in the rupee as majority of the expenses of domestic airlines, including fuel, lease rentals and maintenance costs are paid for in foreign currency.

In order to reduce the cost burden, airlines have introduced a fuel surcharge, which is expected to increase revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) to Rs 5.2 to 5.4 per km this fiscal, up from Rs 4.9 per km last fiscal. However, Crisil pointed that the pass-through remains partial due to the price-sensitive nature of air travel demand. Besides, airlines are rationalising routes and expected to trim capacity, mainly on international routes impacted by airspace restrictions and longer flying times. While this will support margins, it will moderate growth. Therefore, the combined impact of higher costs, constrained pricing power and capacity rationalisation is expected to reduce the aggregate operating profit of the airlines to Rs 16,000 to 17,000 crore this fiscal from around Rs 19,000 crore last fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24117.25, up by 31.55 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 24036.95 and 24139.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Max Healthcare up by 5.49%, Trent up by 2.23%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.19%, Eicher Motors up by 1.41% and SBI up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.26%, TCS down by 1.60%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.56%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.18% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI increased 199.60 points or 2.2% to 9,063.84, Taiwan Weighted added 587.81 points or 1.27% to 46,465.20, Nikkei 225 surged 1252.75 points or 1.76% to 71,155.00 and Straits Times rose 17.95 points or 0.35% to 5,194.41, while Jakarta Composite plunged 85.85 points or 1.38% to 6,134.89, Hang Seng declined 525.16 points or 2.16% to 23,787.00 and Shanghai Composite weakened 17.6 points or 0.43% to 4,090.48.
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