The Indian benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, were trading flat during the afternoon session on Monday, May 18, amid buying in IT stocks. According to reports from The Economic Times, the SENSEX slumped as much as 1.4% to touch an intraday low of 74,180.26 during the opening bell, while the NIFTY50 reached the session's low of 23,317.10. At 1:05 PM, the S&P BSE SENSEX was edged higher by 99.44 points, or 0.13%, to 75,337.43, while NSE's NIFTY50 was trading at 23,646.65, reflecting a 3.15 points, or 0.01% rise. The broader market indices continued to fare worse than their headline peers, with Nifty small-cap indices down around 2% and Nifty mid-cap indices down over 1%. Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT index continued to be the highest gainer, up around 2%, with Nifty Pharma being the only other gainer, up marginally. The Nifty Consumer Durables index was the worst performer, down nearly 3%, with shares of Amber Enterprises the main laggard, down nearly 15%.
NIFTY IT surged 2% on Monday, May 15, emerging as an outperformer despite the decline in broader market indices. As reported by The Economic Times, IT stocks rallied as investor sentiment improved following the decline in the Indian rupee against the US dollar. A weaker rupee is generally considered positive for IT companies because a large portion of their revenue comes from overseas markets, particularly the US. When the rupee depreciates, dollar-denominated earnings translate into higher revenue in rupee terms, supporting margins and profitability. The sentiment around IT stocks was further supported by the rupee falling to a fresh record low against the dollar at INR 96.3325 per dollar. Most information technology stocks rose for the second straight session, with the Nifty IT index rising 2.3% to an intraday high of 28,358.85 points. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Tata Consultancy Services rose 0.8–4.0% and were among the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. Among mid-cap IT companies, Coforge, Persistent Systems, and Mphasis were up 2.8–4.9%.
Shares of leading generic injectable manufacturer Gland Pharma Ltd skyrocketed to hit a 52-week high on Monday, May 18, after the company released its latest set of data for the quarter ending March 2026. According to reports from The Economic Times, the company reported a 96.56% increase in its consolidated profit after tax to ₹366.67 crore in the latest March quarter, compared to ₹186.54 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue from operations advanced 22.30% to ₹1,742.79 crore in Q4 FY26 as against ₹1,424.90 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The stock surged nearly 15% to hit a 52-week high making it one of the top gainers on the NSE. In the Nifty 500, shares of Gland Pharma were the highest gainers, trading nearly 15% higher and remained the top performer in the index. The company's consolidated net profit for the March quarter rose 97% on year to ₹3.67 billion on revenues of ₹17.43 billion, with the stock hitting a 52-week high of ₹2,164.40 earlier in the session.
NCC stock slumped as much as 7% to touch an intraday low of ₹150.03 on Monday, after posting an 18.83% YoY fall in its consolidated net profit to ₹206.02 crore in Q4 FY26, compared to ₹253.82 crore in the year-ago period. As reported by The Economic Times, its revenue from operations rose 1.66% YoY to ₹6,232.71 crore in the March FY26 quarter, as against ₹6,130.88 crore. Meanwhile, Amber Enterprises' stock tumbled 15% to its intraday low after the firm reported a consolidated net profit of ₹134 crore in Q4 FY26, marking a growth of 16% from ₹116 crore in the same period last year. The company's gross margin for the quarter contracted 200 basis points on year to 20.2% with its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation declining 17% on year to ₹4.48 billion. The margins were in line with the 7% estimate by Motilal Oswal Financial Services, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of ₹750.
Jupiter Life Line Hospitals advanced as much as 2.51% to hit the session's peak of ₹1,359.80 per equity share after its board approved a 1:5 stock split and announced an interim dividend at 10% per equity share for FY26. According to The Economic Times, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company declined as much as 8.77% to hit their 52-week low level of ₹488.60 apiece following UK-based Prudential plc's announcement of acquiring a majority 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance for ₹3,500 crore. Vodafone Idea (Vi) fell despite reporting a consolidated net profit of ₹51,970 crore for the March quarter, mainly due to relief in statutory liabilities, with the company planning to raise ₹4,730 crore from a Singapore-based entity of promoter Aditya Birla Group. Afcons Infrastructure fell over 8% to an over one-month low of ₹309.10 after Croatian Motorways cancelled the company's bid for two road construction projects in the Republic of Croatia, with a combined estimated value of ₹45.35 billion.
