Shares of oil marketing companies including Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), BPCL, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) surged 2% each on Tuesday following the government's decision to increase fuel prices. According to reports from PTI, petrol and diesel prices were increased by approximately 90 paise per litre, marking the second increase in fuel rates in less than a week. The latest hike follows the government's increase in fuel prices by up to ₹3 per litre on Friday. After the fresh hike, the petrol price in Delhi now stands at ₹98.64 per litre, up from ₹97.77 per litre, while diesel costs ₹91.58 per litre against a previous price of ₹90.67. Kolkata saw the sharpest increase with petrol prices jumping 96 paise to ₹109.70 per litre and diesel rising 94 paise to ₹96.07 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol prices were increased by 91 paise while in Chennai, petrol prices went up by 82 paise. Government official Sujata Sharma, joint secretary, petroleum ministry, confirmed that post the recent hike, the cumulative daily loss of the three OMCs stands at ₹750 crore, reduced from the previous ₹1,000 crore daily loss. However, the combined under-recoveries still run at ₹1 trillion every quarter, representing a significant financial burden on state-owned fuel retailers.
The Nifty IT index demonstrated exceptional strength, surging 3.23% to 29,308 and rallying 7.12% in three consecutive trading sessions. As per Business Standard, Infosys led the gains with a 4.78% surge, followed by Coforge at 4.67%, LTM at 4.43%, Mphasis at 3.31%, HCL Technologies at 2.83%, Tech Mahindra at 2.64%, Oracle Financial Services Software at 2.5%, Persistent Systems at 2.47%, TCS at 1.92%, and Wipro at 1.52%. The sector's strong performance was supported by positive global cues and continued investor confidence in technology stocks. The broader market outperformed with the BSE 150 MidCap Index adding 0.73% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index jumping 1.17%, while market breadth remained strong with 2,684 shares rising and only 1,390 shares falling on the BSE.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 114.19 points or 0.15% to 75,200.85, while the Nifty 50 rose 31.95 points or 0.14% to 23,618, as per provisional closing data from Business Standard. The rupee faced significant pressure, weakening to 96.5200 against the dollar compared with its previous close of 96.2000, and touching an all-time intraday low of 96.6000. In the commodities market, Brent crude for July 2026 settlement declined $1.86 cents or 1.66% to $110.24 a barrel. Private bank, metal and FMCG shares declined, while IT, media and realty shares advanced. The market breadth remained positive with 2,684 shares rising and only 1,390 shares falling on the BSE, indicating selective buying interest across sectors.
Several companies reported mixed quarterly results with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) advancing 2.46% after reporting standalone net profit that surged 56.61% to ₹11,377.51 crore in Q4 FY26 compared with ₹7,264.85 crore in Q4 FY25. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) rose 6.62% YoY to ₹2,07,883.23 crore. JK Paper rose 5.84% after consolidated net profit surged 35.8% to ₹91.98 crore on a 17.2% increase in revenue to ₹1,965.95 crore. Somany Ceramics surged 10.52% after consolidated net profit jumped 77.23% to ₹37.82 crore on a 6.02% increase in revenue to ₹811.97 crore. However, Afcons Infrastructure shed 0.58% after reporting a consolidated net loss of ₹88.40 crore in Q4 FY26, compared with a net profit of ₹110.93 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Global markets showed mixed performance with the US Dow Jones index futures currently down by 53 points, indicating a negative opening for US stocks. European markets advanced as traders monitored talks between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping during a two-day Beijing summit scheduled for May 19-20. UK unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in February. Asian markets ended mixed as oil prices eased slightly following news that President Trump was postponing a scheduled attack on Iran. Trump announced that military leaders were informed to call off the attack after requests from leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, stating "A Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond."
