Indian equity markets witnessed range-bound activity throughout the session on May 27 amid persistent geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran situation. At close, the Sensex was down 164.20 points or 0.22% at 75,845.50, and the Nifty was down 39.05 points or 0.16% at 23,870.50. The Nifty managed to close above the 23,900 level despite the modest decline, with selling pressure in banking, IT, and oil & gas stocks capping the upside, while gains in power, metals, telecom, auto, and media counters provided support to the broader market. The Nifty Midcap index rose 0.28% and Smallcap index ended with marginal gains of 0.30%, while market breadth remained positive with 2,197 shares rising and 1,845 shares falling on the BSE. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 5.81% to 15.20, indicating reduced market volatility expectations.
Media, power, and capital goods sectors emerged as top performers, adding 3% each, while auto, metal, and telecom sectors gained 1% each. However, selling pressure was visible in IT, FMCG, banking, and oil & gas names. The Nifty Bank recently witnessed a consolidation congestion breakout on the daily chart and successfully reclaimed its 20-day and 50-day SMA, indicating improving momentum in the index. Despite mild profit booking during the last two trading sessions, the overall structure remains positive as long as the index sustains above the 54400 zone along with its key short-term and mid-term moving averages. Nearly 160 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including AIA Engineering, Usha Martin, HFCL, Granules India, Hindalco Industries, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, GE Vernova T&D India, Honasa Consumer, Hitachi Energy India, Adani Green Energy, Adani Energy Solutions, Cummins India, KEI Industries, Lloyds Metals and Energy, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Oracle Financial Services Software, Adani Power, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Laurus Labs and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone.
The Nifty Financial Services index fell 0.56% to 25,788.30, extending losses for the second consecutive trading session with a 1.20% decline over two sessions. Major financial sector stocks faced significant pressure, with HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries shares among the top losers on Sensex, falling up to 1-2.51%. However, some financial stocks showed resilience, with LIC Housing Finance surging 2.34%, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company up 0.78%, and Jio Financial Services gaining 0.76%. The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.04% to 6.999 compared with the previous session close of 6.996.
Hindalco Industries, Power Grid Corporation of India, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle, Eternal, NTPC were among major gainers on the Nifty, while ONGC, ITC, HDFC Life, HDFC Bank, Wipro were the major losers. JK Tyre & Industries climbed 4.80% after reporting a consolidated net profit of ₹177.99 crore in Q4 FY26, marking an 80.18% jump from ₹98.78 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter last year, with revenue from operations rising 12.36% YoY to ₹4,223.44 crore. Finolex Industries rallied 8.07% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 58.74% to ₹261.25 crore on a 12.12% increase in revenue from operations to ₹1,313.88 crore in Q4 FY26. Gandhar Oil Refinery (India) added 3.44% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 248.59% to ₹40.68 crore in Q4 FY26 from ₹11.67 crore in Q4 FY25. Gillette India shares jumped 5% after Q4 profit rose by 21.4%, while Zen Technologies climbed 5% on launch of anti-drone smart border system.
Technical analysis suggests the short-term market texture remains positive, but a fresh uptrend rally is possible only after the dismissal of 24,000/76200 levels. Post a 24,000/76200 breakout, the market could move up to 24,200-24,250/76800-77000. On the flip side, for Nifty, below the 20-day SMA or 23,850/75700, selling pressure is likely to accelerate. Below this level, the market could retest the 50-day SMA or the 23,700-23,650/75200-75000 levels. Nifty 50 recently witnessed a breakout above the 23800 congestion zone on the daily chart, indicating improving momentum in the index. However, profit booking has been visible during the last two trading sessions following the recent rally. In Wednesday's session, the index managed to take support near its 20-day SMA, reflecting buying interest at lower levels. On the derivatives front, both call and put writers remained active, with significant call writing at the 24000 strike establishing it as a strong resistance zone, while aggressive put writing at 23900 indicates immediate support.
The Indian rupee recovered from the intraday low of 95.79 and ended flat at 95.69 per dollar versus its previous close of 95.68. The market will remain shut on May 28 (Thursday) on account of Bakri Id. European stocks traded in positive territory as regional investors assessed the latest military operations against Iran and declining oil prices, according to Business Standard. Asian markets rose as investors continued to assess recent U.S. military action in Iran and the fragile state of the Washington-Tehran ceasefire. Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh intraday all-time highs, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.61% to 7,519.12 and the Nasdaq gaining 1.19% to 26,656.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 118.02 points, or 0.23%, ending at 50,461.68. Brent crude for July 2026 settlement fell $3.22 or 3.23% to $96.36 a barrel.
