NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on May 19

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Tuesday, May 19, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad declined 17 points to 23,641 amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong recovery in afternoon deals to end on a flat note on Monday led by gains in Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finance. The SENSEX recovered as much as 1,286 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,695 after hitting a low of 23,317.

The SENSEX ended 77 points higher at 75,315 and NIFTY50 index advanced 6 points top close at 23,650.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note after US President Donald Trump’s decision to pause a planned attack on Iran and his claim there was a good chance of a nuclear deal sent oil prices lower.

Japan's Nikkei declined 0.45%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 1%, China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.25%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended largely mixed tracking volatility in oil prices. Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.32%, S&P 500 declined 0.07% and tech heavy Nasdaq fell 0.51%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹2,813.69 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,682.12 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,16,798 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Earnings today

Around 125 companies will declare their latest March quarter earnings today. The list includes names like Bharat Electronics, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Mankind Pharma, Zydus Lifesciences, PI Industries, Anthem Biosciences, Hatsun Agro Products, Godawari Power & Ispat, BASF India, Fine Organics Industries, PG Electroplast, Trident, Shaily Engineering Plastics, BLS International Services, Rites and Eureka Forbes, among others.

Stocks to watch

With this, multiple US regulatory and legal probes involving the group have all closed in the last couple of days.

The firm plans to invest around ₹2,500 crore for the greenfield expansion. “Subject to approval by the company’s board, the project will be implemented in a phased manner, calibrated to future demand and market conditions,” Eicher Motors said in a statement.

Its revenue from operations increased 6.94% to ₹2,32,855.33 crore in Q4 FY26 as against ₹2,17,725.44 crore in the March quarter of FY25.

The total income jumped to ₹696 crore in the reporting quarter from ₹557.9 crore a year ago.

The company's board also recommended a final dividend of ₹2 per share, subject to approval of the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting (AGM).

Despite the dip in profit, the company saw a 6% rise in quarterly sales volume to 9.69 million standard cubic metres per day.

CNG volumes surged 5%, and piped natural gas (PNG) volumes advanced by 6% over the corresponding period last year, the company said in a statement.

Its revenue from operations for Q4 FY26 grew 6% to ₹4,571.49 crore, compared to ₹4,322.71 crore a year earlier.

"Due to the impact of the West Asia crisis in the month of March 2026, the net profit after tax for the quarter ending March 2026 is ₹277.08 crore as compared to ₹349.23 crore in the corresponding quarter of last financial year," it said.

The net profit stood at ₹186.49 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to ₹1,674.24 crore in Q4 FY26 from ₹1,173.65 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The board also recommended a final dividend of ₹10 per equity share for FY26, subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing AGM.

The consolidated revenue from operations fell to ₹2,613.84 crore in Q4 FY26, compared to ₹3,223.27 crore a year back.

The company's board also recommended a dividend of ₹2 per share.

Trade setup

The NIFTY50 closed flat with a 6-point gain after recouping over 340 points from the intraday low levels. The index managed to defend the 23,250–23,300 support zone as highlighted previously. The chart structure remains neutral with a positive bias if the index manages to close above the 23,700 levels. However, a closing below 23,300 would invalidate the positive structure and indicate further weakness.

The options data for the weekly expiry on Tuesday indicated sharp open interest addition on the put side, indicating major support for the index at lower levels. The 23,400 put holds the highest open interest on the downside, indicating a key level of protection. On the upside, 24,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for today’s expiry.