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Informist, Wednesday, May 20, 2026

 

By Arundathi A R

 

MUMBAI – Bulls took charge of the domestic equity market in the final hour of trade on Wednesday, and headline indices closed higher with marginal gains. The indices stayed in negative territory for most of the session after US President Donald Trump said the US might strike Iran again. Markets recovered their initial losses despite the fall in other Asian markets, higher crude oil prices, and the rupee's depreciation.

 

Trump warned Iran of a potential strike if it doesn't reach a deal in "two or three days", adding Iran's leaders were begging for a deal. He made the comment a day after his decision to call off attacks on Iran. "I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday, Reuters reported. As a reaction to this news, Brent crude oil July futures breached the $110 a barrel mark. At 1500 IST, Brent crude oil prices were nearly 2% lower at $109.30 a barrel.

 

The Nifty 50 settled 0.2% higher at 23659, up 41 points. The BSE Sensex also ended 0.2% higher at 75318.39, up 117.54 points. Half the Nifty 50 constituents ended higher. 

 

"Nifty (50) index has been consolidating in a slightly upward-sloping range for the past couple of trading sessions with immediate support at 23400 and resistance around 23950," Vipin Kumar, technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. "Today, indices found perfect support at the lower band of the mentioned consolidation range."

 

Barring the Nifty small-cap 50, all broader market indices settled 0.4-0.5% higher. Most sectoral indices closed with gains, with the Nifty Oil & Gas being the top gainer. The sectoral index was up 1.6%. It was followed by the Nifty Energy index, up 1.5%.

 

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained, supporting the Nifty 50 index. The stock ended nearly 3% higher, up after three straight sessions of fall. Oil and Natural Gas Corp. closed 0.6% higher.

 

Oil stocks Bharat Petroleum Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp., and Indian Oil Corp. gained 2.3-3.2%. In a post-earnings conference call with analysts and investors Wednesday, Bharat Petroleum said it is allocating funds with a target to accrue ownership of at least 6–7 million tonnes per annum of crude oil in the long term. The company had signed long-term cargoes to meet 55% of its refining needs. 

 

Hindalco Industries ended as the major gainer in the index, up almost 4%. The company's US subsidiary Novelis had detailed its March quarter earnings and gave a positive outlook for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), which drove Hindalco to end the session with gains. Shares of Hindalco rose after three straight sessions of fall.

Grasim Industries also gained significantly, up over 1%. The company posted a net loss of INR 1.64 billion for the March quarter, prior to the market close. The net loss narrowed from INR 2.88 billion reported a year ago.

 

Shares of Mankind Pharma closed almost 4% higher after the management of the company, in a post-earnings conference call, said it expects the revenue growth to remain in double digits for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). The company guided its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation at around 25.5-26.5%.

 

Tata Communications ended as one of the major gainers in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. The stock closed nearly 8% higher. Following Tata Communications, GE Vernova T&D India gained nearly 7%. The company reported a strong set of earnings for the quarter ended March.

 

BLS International Services was up over 2%. The company's management maintained the revenue growth guidance for the near term after it reported strong March quarter earnings. The stock closed higher for the third session in a row.

 

Zydus Lifesciences ended over 2% higher following its announcement of strong earnings for the March quarter. The company's net profit for the quarter, though rose 9% on year, missed the Street's view.

 

KEC International, which came off highs after opening almost 2% higher, ended the session with 0.5% gains. Brokerage Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities downgraded its recommendation on the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' and trimmed its target price by 40% to INR 507.

 

Bharat Electronics ended over 2% lower and was also among the major losers in the Nifty 50 as well as Nifty 200 indices. The stock, which fell for the fifth straight session, reported a 13-quarter-low net profit growth in the March quarter.

 

PI Industries was the biggest laggard in the Nifty 200 index. The stock ended 7.2% lower. It was among the major drags in the Nifty 500 index as well. The company reported the sharpest fall since 2019 in its consolidated net profit growth for the March quarter.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 25 rose, 25 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 15 rose, 15 fell

* On the NSE, 1,722 stocks rose, 1,543 fell, and 107 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,121 stocks rose, 1,979 fell, and 216 were unchanged
* Nifty Oil & Gas: up 1.6%; Nifty Energy: up 1.5%; Nifty Media: down 1.5%

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BSE                                             NSE

Sensex: 75318.39, up 117.54 points or 0.2%      Nifty 50: 23659, up 41 points or 0.2%

 

S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 71947.55 (Mar. 30)	: 2026 Closing Low: 22331.40 (Mar. 30)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 71545.81 (Apr. 1)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 22182.55 (Apr.2)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 96.82

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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