SENSEX, NIFTY50 stage recovery in afternoon deals to end on a flat note led by IT shares

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong recovery in afternoon deals to end on a flat note on Monday, May 18, 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 ended lower as sentiment turned negative after crude oil moved above $110 per barrel. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.08%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.09% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.11%.

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.

Back home, 10 of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY PSU Bank index's 1.9% fall. NIFTY Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, Realty, Auto and Metal indices fell between o,8% and 1.8%.

On the flip side, IT, pharma, healthcare and private bank shares witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets also witnessed selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.15% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.3%.

Tech Mahindra was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 4.85% to close at ₹1,437. Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Technologies also rose between 1.14% and 2.38%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.15% to close at ₹210 after its March quarter earnings failed to impress investors.

Tata Steel posted a 125% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit at ₹2,926 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2026 (Q4 FY26) on Friday, May 15. In the corresponding period last year, the firm had clocked a profit of ₹1,301 crore.

Power Grid declined 2.93% to settle at ₹296 after it reported weak operational performance in fourth quarter of financial year 2025-26.

Power Grid post market hours on Friday said that it earned a net profit of ₹4,552.80 crore in January-March quarter, marking an increase of 5% from ₹4,336 crore in the same period last financial year.

The company's revenue from operations declined 9% to ₹9,971 crore at the end of March quarter from ₹10,983 crore in the year-ago period.

NTPC, State Bank of India, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Trent, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among top laggards in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,382 shares ended lower while 941 closed higher on the NSE.