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Informist, Friday, May 22, 2026

By Arundathi A R

MUMBAI – The domestic equity markets were up for the entire session Friday and the headline indices closed with minimal gains. The renewed hopes of a potential US-Iran peace deal and the fall in crude oil prices to $105 a barrel helped the indices to settle higher after the previous choppy sessions. However, the Nifty 50 marked only marginal gains of 0.3% for the week.

The Nifty 50 settled at 23719.30, up over 64 points or 0.3% higher. The BSE Sensex ended at 75415.35, up almsot 232 points or 0.3% higher. Broader market indices, however, showed a mixed performance. All midcap indices ended in the green with marginal gains, while smallcap indices settled lower. Meanwhile, India VIX showed the nervousness among investors was still slightly higher. The volatility index was over 0.5% higher at 17.9100.

Banking and financial services stocks were the major contributors to the Nifty 50's gains. Among the sectoral indices also, the Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Financial Services, and the Nifty Bank settled as the top three gainers, up over 1% each. The pack of sectoral indices showed a mixed performance, with most indices ending lower.

Gains in index heavyweights ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank supported the index to remain higher. The stocks gained 1-2%. Shriram Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Jio Financial Services, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the other top gainers in the 50-stock pack, which are 1-3% higher.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks dragged the Nifty 50 most. The Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Pharma were the major losers among sectoral indices, down over 1% each. Max Healthcare Institute and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries shed the most among the Nifty 50 stocks, down 2.5-6.2%.

Trent was the top gainer in the Nifty 50 index, ending 3% higher. It settled higher for the fourth straight session and gained 6.5% during this period.

Astral ended as the top gainer in the Nifty 200 and was up over 4%. Info Edge (India) was also among the main gainers in the Nifty 200 index, and ended nearly 4% higher. The information technology company's bottom line rose in double-digit and was higher than the Street's view. The top line of the company was also higher than expectations. Dixon Technologies (India) closed over 4% higher in the Nifty 200 and was up for the second session.

Page Industries closed with almsot 3% gains after the comapny's March quarter bottom line and top line beat the analysts' expectations. The company plans to undertake a price hike in the ongoing quarter to pass on the inflationary impact of higher input costs, its management said in a post-earnings conference call with analysts Thursday. 

JSW Cement ended with most gains in the Nifty 500 index. Shares of the company ended over 8% higher as its consolidated net profit for Jan-Mar surged 11 times from the year-ago period. The bottom line has also surpassed the Street's view for the quarter. The stock remained in the positive territory for the second session.

Minda Corp. and Honasa Consumer ended as the second and third largest gainers in the Nifty 500 after JSW Cement. The stocks were 6.6-7.0% higher. The consolidated net profit of Minda Corp. for the March quarter rose over twofold on year, and that of Honasa Consumer jumped around three-fold on year.

Shares of Max Healthcare, down over 6%, declined after seven straight sessions of gains. The company's key financial metrics reported a lower-than-expected earnings for the March quarter. The stock gained over 7% during the seven sessions of rise. The stock was also the key laggard in the Nifty 200 index.

Aurobindo Pharma turned out to be one of the losers in the Nifty 200. It ended over 5% lower. The company detailed its March quarter earnings Thursday post market hours and posted the bottom line growth at the slowest pace in 13 quarters.

After reporting mixed earnings for the reporting quarter Thursday, ITC ended Friday's session with over 2% of losses. The company's gross revenue, including excise duty paid by the company on cigarettes, rose 17% on year. However, discounting the excise duty, the company reported a 7% decline in sales. The company's net profit from continuing operations for the quarter grew around 5% on year.

Engineers India ended as the key drag in the Nifty 500 index, and was down almost 9%. Shares of the company fell after its bottom line declined over 37% on year. The stock was down for the third straight session and shed almost 12% during this session.

Central Bank of India fell nearly 8% after the government decided to sell 4% stake in the bank through an offer for sale. The government proposed selling up to 362 million shares of the bank, which represents 4% of its stake. Sun TV Network was also the major loser in the Nifty 500, which fell over 6%. It reported a 40% on-year fall in its net profit for Jan-Mar.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 28 rose, 22 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 14 rose, 16 fell

* On the NSE, 1,748 stocks rose, 1,522 fell, and 97 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,213 stocks rose, 1,971 fell, and 185 were unchanged
* Nifty Private Bank: up 1.5%; Nifty Financial Services: up 1.2%; Nifty Healthcare: down 1.5%

BSE                                           NSE

Sensex: 75415.35, up 231.99 points or 0.3%    Nifty 50: 23719.30, up 64.60 points or 0.3%

End

US$1 = INR 95.69

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

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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