Sensex, Nifty 50 snap 3-day losing run; investors earn ₹3 lakh crore— 10 key highlights from Indian stock market today

Broad-based buying helped Indian stock market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, snap their three-day losing streak on Wednesday, May 21, led by gains in select heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bharti Airtel.

The Sensex closed 410 points, or 0.51 per cent, higher at 81,596.63, while the Nifty 50 ended 130 points, or 0.52 per cent, up at 24,813.45. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose by 0.90 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively.

The cumulative market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose to ₹441 lakh crore from ₹438 lakh crore in the previous session, thus making investors richer by about ₹3 lakh crore in a single session.

Indian stock market: 10 key highlights from the day

Here are 10 key highlights from the stock market today:

1. Sensex, Nifty 50 rise, but...

Wednesday's gains in the market could be due to short covering after the recent correction, as the medium to long-term outlook of the domestic market remains positive.

However, uncertainty around India—US trade negotiations remains a key overhang that can limit gains in the short term.

"Markets exhibited a broadly positive undertone today; however, overall sentiment remained confined within a narrow range, indicating risk of 'sell on rallies' strategy in the near future amid escalating uncertainty around India-US trade negotiations. There is a growing perception that India may not derive the anticipated benefits initially projected during the peak of the tariff war, which has since de-escalated," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) appear cautious after Moody's recent credit rating downgrade. The US tax cut bill could widen the country's fiscal deficit and potentially influence the policy stance of the US Federal Reserve.

"FIIs turned net sellers due to the concerns over the recent US credit rating downgrade. Tax cut plans in the US that could significantly widen the fiscal deficit and have an impact on the upcoming Fed policy next month. This change in stance hints at an increased probability of emerging risk-averse sentiment in the near term," Nair said.

2. Top gainers in the Nifty 50 index today

As many as 37 stocks ended higher in the Nifty 50 index. Shares of BEL (up 5.26 per cent), Tata Steel (up 1.93 per cent), and Cipla (up 1.83 per cent) ended as the top gainers.

3. Top losers in the Nifty pack

Shares of IndusInd Bank (down 1.98 per cent), JSW Steel (down 1.07 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.84 per cent) closed as the top losers.

4. Sectoral indices today

Barring Nifty Consumer Durables (down 0.49 per cent), all sectoral indices ended higher, with Realty (up 1.72 per cent) and Pharma (up 1.25 per cent)clocking significant gains.

Nifty Bank rose 0.36 per cent, while the PSU Bank and Private Bank indices climbed 0.67 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively. Nifty Financial Services index rose 0.56 per cent.

5. Most active stocks in terms of volume

Vodafone Idea (54.16 crore shares), Easy Trip Planners (24.02 crore shares), and Tata Teleservices (10.59 crore shares) were the most active stocks in terms of volume on the NSE.

6. 12 stocks jump more than 10% on NSE

The Grob Tea Company, A B Infrabuild, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), Trident and Ecos (India) Mobility & Hospitality were among the 12 stocks that jumped more than 10 per cent on the NSE.

7. Two stocks crash over 10%

Music Broadcast and Themis Medicare were the two stocks that crashed more than 10 per cent on the NSE.

8. 75 stocks hit upper circuits; 65 stocks hit lower circuits

Some 75 stocks, including Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), Raymond, Coffee Day Enterprises, Unitech and Rajdarshan Industries, hit their upper circuits in intraday trade on the NSE.

On the other hand, 65 stocks, including NIBE, Alpex Solar, Indo Tech Transformers and Committed Cargo Care, hit their lower circuits during the session.

9. Advance-decline ratio

As many as 1,753 stocks advanced, while 1,095 declined and 93 remained unchanged on the NSE.

10. Over 70 stocks hit their 52-week highs

Some 76 stocks, including Bharat Electronics (BEL), HDFC Life Insurance Company, Max Financial Services and APL Apollo Tubes, hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.

On the other hand, Aether Industries and Lasa Supergenerics were among the 25 stocks that hit their 52-week lows during the session on the BSE.

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