NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on May 18

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Monday, May 18, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad dropped 83 points to 23,561 amid weak cues from most of the Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks erased gains and ended lower on Friday after rupee hit another record low and breached 96 per dollar mark for the first time while crude oil prices in the international markets spiked above $109 per barrel mark shaking the investor sentiment.

The SENSEX ended 161 points lower at 75,238 and NIFTY50 index dropped 45 points to close at 23,643.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading lower as sentiment turned negative after crude oil moved above $110 per barrel. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.9%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.4% and China's Shanghai Composite was trading on a flat noted.

Crude oil prices moved above $110 per barrel after war in Iran dragged on for another week and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz showed no signs of progress.

Wall Street update

US benchmarks fell from their records on Friday and joined a worldwide drop for stocks after higher oil prices sent a shiver through the bond market.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.07%, S&P 500 index fell 1.24% and tech heavy Nasdaq plunged 1.54%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,329.17 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth ₹1,958.82 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,19,017 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Q4 earnings today

Stocks to watch

The country's second-largest steelmaker's total revenue from operations stood at ₹63,270 crore, growing 12.5% YoY in Q4 FY26, compared to ₹56,218 crore in the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q4 FY25).

The board of Muthoot FinCorp on Saturday approved raising up to ₹4,000 crore through an IPO comprising a fresh issue of equity shares, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.

The company has to complete the supplies by August 2026.

Balrampur Chini Mills, which has 10 sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh, is setting up a Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) plant of 80,000 tonnes per annum capacity at a cost of more than ₹3,000 crore.

The company has also committed over ₹700 crore of investment in building a global parts centre in South of India, he told analysts.

"We are investing in capacity expansion, and we have committed over ₹1,500 crore of capex in FY27. And this capex is going to expand our capacity in scooters, where for some of our models that are doing very well, we are doubling our capacity," Chitale said.