The Indian equity markets opened strongly on Tuesday, May 19, with Sensex trading at 75,684.70, up 369.66 points or 0.49% as of latest trading data, while Nifty 50 was at 23,706.75, gaining 56.80 points or 0.24%. As per ET Now, Sensex opened at 75,441.27 and moved between a high of 75,741.84 and a low of 75,371.07, while Nifty 50 opened at 23,675.30 and traded between 23,768.95 and 23,647.40. This follows Monday's recovery when Sensex closed 77 points or 0.10% higher at 75,315.04 and Nifty 50 settled at 23,649.95, up 6.45 points or 0.03%. The Tuesday opening came after US President Donald Trump stated that a potential US military strike on Iran was being delayed following requests from Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, providing significant relief to markets. The recovery from Monday's volatile session, which saw the Sensex tumbling as much as 1,000 points during intraday trading before staging a strong comeback, demonstrates continued investor resilience amid geopolitical tensions.
IT stocks dominated the Tuesday morning session, with Infosys leading the pack by rising 4.47% to ₹1,193.60, as reported by ET Now. Tech Mahindra Ltd gained 3.88% to ₹1,485.50, HCL Technologies rose 3.51% to ₹1,186.90, Tata Consultancy Services increased 3.09% to ₹2,353.70, and Wipro added 2.35% to ₹1,966.80. This follows Monday's strong performance when the Nifty IT index had already gained 2.70%, making it the top-performing sector. From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Tata Consultancy Services were among the major winners, while Tata Steel, Power Grid, State Bank of India and NTPC were major laggards. Gland Pharma surged 15.64% after reporting strong Q4 FY26 results with a 96.62% increase in consolidated net profit to ₹366.7 crore on a 22.31% rise in net sales to ₹1,742.80 crore. Hindustan Copper gained 2% after reporting strong Q4 results, with revenue rising 58% year-on-year. Infosys (up 2.15%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.76%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.50%) supported the indices in the previous session.
Oil prices showed significant relief as Brent crude futures fell 2.05% to $109.80 per barrel, as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. WTI crude dropped 1.61% to $102.70 a barrel as of 9:06 am, providing substantial relief to markets that had been pressured by geopolitical tensions. This follows Monday's surge when Brent crude for July 2026 settlement rose 0.73% to $110.10 per barrel after reports of possible temporary US sanctions relief on Iranian oil exports. On the MCX, June crude oil futures were trading at ₹9,922, marginally lower than the previous close of ₹9,924. The relief came after Trump stated that a potential US military strike on Iran was being delayed following requests from Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. However, elevated crude oil prices and volatility levels continue to keep sentiment cautious, with analysts noting that if there is a quick resolution of the Hormuz crisis, the economy may recover fast and the slowdown expected this year will not be as severe as feared.
The banking sector demonstrated resilience with Nifty Bank opening at 53,553.75, up 24.05 points or 0.04%, as reported by ET Now. Nifty Bank is currently trading at 53,561.05, reflecting an increase of 0.04% throughout the day. The sector had previously shown weakness, with Bank Nifty closing 0.30% lower in the previous session. ICICI Bank Ltd declined 0.51% to ₹1,244.70 and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd fell 0.48% to ₹389.90 among the top banking losers, while HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd gained 1.38% to ₹613.30. The banking index recovery comes as the yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.76% to 7.130 compared with the previous session close of 7.076, indicating continued pressure on bond yields.
Market breadth remained positive with nearly 70% of the 3,414 stocks that traded, declining in the previous session, as reported by The Hindu. The broader markets underperformed benchmarks, with the BSE 150 MidCap Index closing at 45,898.32, down 101.37 points or 0.22%, and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index falling 764 points or 1.47% to settle at 51,734.31. As per Zee News, the Nifty MidCap index slipped 0.15% while the Nifty SmallCap index declined 1.26%. Of all the 21 sectoral indices, 13 declined with some of them dipping more than 1.9%. However, on the losing side, metals and energy stocks were under pressure, with Hindalco falling 0.81% to ₹1,044.60, ONGC declining 0.79% to ₹294.85, Eternal dropping 0.70% to ₹239.71, Titan slipping 0.66% to ₹4,142.20, and Coal India down 0.63% to ₹459.20. India VIX, which measures volatility in markets, climbed 4.47% to 19.63 in the previous session, indicating continued uncertainty, though a move above the 20 mark could increase downside risks, while stability below 18 would be supportive for bullish sentiment.
Despite recent gains, market sentiment remains cautious as technical experts view the current bounce as a counter-trend move within a broader decline. Rohit Srivastava, Founder of Strike Money Analytics and Indiacharts, is not reading the current bounce as a trend change. "This bounce still looks like a counter-trend move in the decline we have been seeing since the start of May," he said in an interview with ET Now. His technical roadmap shows the Nifty can stretch toward 23,880, roughly the 20-day moving average, but is likely to face selling pressure somewhere in that zone before turning lower again. The next meaningful test is 23,350, which he identifies as a critical support level that will determine the market's next directional move. "I will put odds on it breaking lower than 23,350 and heading somewhere below 23,000," says Srivastava. For traders and investors, his framework is straightforward: use any move toward 23,880 as a selling or caution zone, watch 23,350 as the number that decides whether the market stabilizes or accelerates lower, and avoid chasing IT on a currency trade alone.
