NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on May 21

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap up opening on Thursday, May 21, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad advanced 139 points or 0.6% to 23,808 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

NIFTY50 and BSE SENSEX reversed their intraday trends closing in the green zone on Wednesday after index heavyweights like Reliance, Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, and other stocks supported the recovery amid weak global market cues.

The NIFTY50 index closed 0.17% or 41 points higher at 23,659 points after Wednesday’s trading session, compared to 23,618 points at the previous market close, according to the exchange data.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher after crude oil prices declined following comments from US President Donald Trump that US is in the "final stages" with Iran, signalling that energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz will resume soon.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 3.6%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.77% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.2%.

South Korea's KOSPI surged 7.2% helped by strong buying of technology shares such as Samsung Electronics, which gained 6.3%. Shares in SK Hynix, a computer chipmaker partnering with Nvidia, surged 9.5%.

Crude oil update

Brent crude oil prices fell over 5% on Wednesday after President Trump stated that the US was in the final stages of talks with Iran and the war could end soon. Following the development, Brent crude oil prices plunged to $103 per barrel, the lowest in two weeks.

Wall Street update

Overnight, US stocks ended higher as bond yields eased following days of rapid climbs.

Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.31%, S&P 50 index gained 1.08% and tch heavy Nasdaq surged 1.54% after Nvidia's quarterly results surpassed Wall Street’s expectations once again, fueled by massive demand for its high-end AI chips.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹1,597.35 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹1,968.35 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,18,273 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Q4 results today

An array of companies will release their latest set of numbers for the quarter ended March 2026 on Thursday, May 21. The list includes state-run life insurance company Life Insurance Corporation of India, cigarette manufacturer ITC, hospital chain Max Healthcare Institute, consumer electronics and home appliances maker LG Electronics India, pharmaceuticals manufacturer Aurobindo Pharma, natural gas company GAIL India, Nykaa operator FSN E-Commerce Ventures, real estate developer Prestige Estates Projects and exclusive Jockey licensee Page Industries.

Stocks to watch

The company will acquire 10,613 shares, or a 1% , stake in Japanese arm Owndays, for about ₹50 crore and 1,38,005 shares in Lenskart Singapore for around ₹3 crore.

The two firms have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purpose, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said in a joint statement.

Under the terms of the non-binding MoU, Stellantis and JLR will explore collaboration opportunities to create synergies across product and technology development, leveraging the companies' complementary strengths to create value for both organisations, the statement said.

The company had posted a net profit of ₹175.35 crore in the January-March period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing from JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd (JKLC), a flagship company of JK Organisation.

Its revenue from operations was flat at ₹1,901.53 crore in the March quarter. It was at ₹1,897.62 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated net profit was ₹94.71 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2025, a regulatory filing showed.

Total expenses rose to ₹1,538.84 crore in the quarter from ₹790.29 crore in the same period a year ago.

Trade setup

The NIFTY50 continues to trade in a narrow range of 23,400 to 23,800. The hourly charts show lower highs and higher lows, suggesting an impending big move out of this consolidation. The index faces resistance at the hourly 50 EMA of 23,588 and has support at 23,400.

The open interest data for the upcoming weekly expiry suggests a strong concentration of open interest on the put side. The 23,500 puts hold the highest open interest, indicating strong support at these levels. On the flipside, 24,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for NIFTY50.