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Sustained buying keep Indian markets up in early noon deals
May-22-2026

A sustained buying kept Indian equity benchmarks up in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, supported by easing crude oil prices and strong cues from the global markets. Hopes of progress in the US-Iran peace talks further boosted investor sentiment. Sentiments were upbeat as Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers to boost 'Ease of Living' and 'Ease of Doing Business'. Traders took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report showing that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined by 10.81% to $5644.38 million in April 2026 as against $6,328.51 million in April 2025, as lower loan and guarantee commitments outweighed a sharp rise in outbound equity investments by Indian companies.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher, after consumer sentiment in South Korea jumped to optimism in May, with a consumer confidence index score of 106.1. That's up from 99.2 in April and moves back above 100, which signifies optimism versus pessimism.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75618.03, up by 434.67 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 75230.75 and 75772.14. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.06%, Telecom up by 0.93%, Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, Realty up by 0.52% and Consumer Disc up by 0.48%, while Healthcare down by 0.77%, PSU down by 0.19%, Utilities down by 0.15%, Oil & Gas down by 0.08% and TECK down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.11%, Trent up by 2.01%, ICICI Bank up by 1.91%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.80% and Asian Paints up by 1.69%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.46%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.16%, Power Grid down by 1.03%, Sun Pharma down by 0.98% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Quarterly Estimates of the Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Sector for the quarter January to March 2026 has shown a 16.69% year-on-year (YoY) growth in the number of unincorporated establishments at 9.16 crore as compared with 7.85 crore unincorporated establishments in same quarter last year. The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the data. The growth in number establishments was primarily driven by the rural sector which registered 20.46% increase, while urban sector posted a growth of 12.59% during the period.

The data showed that the employment in unincorporated non-agricultural sector has rose by 15.51% YoY to 15.17 crore in January-March 2026, highlighting the sector’s growing significance in generating employment opportunities for a large section of the population across sectors. Besides, the largest share of the workforce is continued to dominated by working owners, accounting for 60.97% of total workers during the quarter, compared to 58.29% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. In contrast, the share of hired workers witnessed a marginal decline, falling to 24.77% from 26.86% over the same period. The growing importance of unincorporated enterprises in supporting the rural economy was further reflected in the robust growth of the rural workforce, which recorded an increase of 21.65% during the period as against 10.39% growth in urban sector.

During the January to March quarter, the unincorporated establishments belonging to trade and manufacturing activities account for 29% and 27% of the total establishments, respectively, while the other activities accounts for 44%. The quarter witnessed significant growth in the unincorporated services sector, with significant expansion in both the number of establishments and employment compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The number of establishments increased by 24.82%, while the workforce in the sector grew by 31.13% over the same period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23775.70, up by 121.00 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 23671.00 and 23828.50. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.33%, Axis Bank up by 2.07%, Trent up by 2.05%, Eicher Motors up by 1.99% and ICICI Bank up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Max Healthcare Inst down by 4.20%, ITC down by 1.51%, ONGC down by 1.39%, Sun Pharma down by 1.12% and Power Grid down by 1.02% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; KOSPI increased 32.12 points or 0.41% to 7,847.71, Hang Seng advanced 254.48 points or 1% to 25,641.00, Shanghai Composite strengthened 36.98 points or 0.91% to 4,114.26, Taiwan Weighted added 899.76 points or 2.13% to 42,267.97, Nikkei 225 surged 1510.86 points or 2.39% to 63,195.00, Jakarta Composite gained 18.5 points or 0.3% to 6,113.44 and Straits Times rose 21.31 points or 0.42% to 5,067.02.
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