Benchmarks continued to trade almost half-a-percent higher in late afternoon session supported by a value buying following the recent pullback made by the markets amid West Asia tensions. Investors were sanguine about free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the India-Oman FTA is likely to come into force from June 1, 2026. However, weakening rupee and recent comments by the RBI Governor sparked some caution among market participants. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has indicated that India may need to increase retail fuel prices if the conflict in the West Asia prolongs. Besides, retail inflation numbers for the month of April kept the sentiments downbeat. Retail inflation rate based on All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) with base year 2024 rose marginally to 3.48% (Provisional) in the month of April 2026 as compared to 3.40% (Final) in the preceding month.
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green as strong momentum in technology stocks helped offset concerns over rising U.S. inflation and the West Asia tensions. European equity markets were trading higher ahead of the high-stakes meeting in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74880.37, up by 321.13 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 74134.48 and 75191.57. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.63%, Telecom up by 3.02%, Consumer Durables up by 2.76%, Basic Materials up by 2.31% and Oil & Gas up by 2.16%, while IT down by 0.85% and Auto down by 0.35% were the only losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 4.65%, Tata Steel up by 3.73%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.32%, Bharat Electronics up by 3.26% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.86%, Infosys down by 1.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.10%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.02% and TCS down by 0.85% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have achieved a record net profit of Rs 1.98 lakh crore in FY 2025-26 (FY26), marking their fourth consecutive year of strong financial performance, supported by improved asset quality, healthy credit expansion and higher income.
According to the Ministry, aggregate operating profit of PSBs stood at Rs 3.21 lakh crore during the fiscal, while net profit rose 11.1 per cent year-on-year. The aggregate business of PSBs increased to Rs 283.3 lakh crore as on March 31, 2026, up 12.8 per cent from the previous year. Aggregate deposits rose 10.6 per cent year-on-year to Rs 156.3 lakh crore, reflecting continued depositor confidence and strong resource mobilisation by PSBs. Gross advances increased 15.7 per cent to Rs 127 lakh crore, indicating sustained credit demand across sectors of the economy.
It also said asset quality of PSBs improved significantly during FY26, with gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio declining to 1.93 per cent and net NPA ratio to 0.39 per cent as on March 31, 2026, reflecting historically low levels of stressed assets. Further, all PSBs maintained provisioning coverage ratio of above 90%, indicating prudent provisioning practices, improved underwriting standards, effective risk management mechanisms and strengthened balance sheet resilience. Fresh slippages continued to decline during FY26, with slippage ratio reducing to 0.7%. Total recoveries, including recoveries from written-off accounts, stood at Rs 86,971 crore, reflecting improved recovery mechanisms and better credit discipline across PSBs.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23498.15, up by 118.60 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 23262.55 and 23582.95. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 4.71%, Adani Enterprises up by 4.23%, Tata Steel up by 3.62%, Hindalco up by 3.55% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.44%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.89%, Eicher Motors down by 1.61%, Infosys down by 1.30%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.26% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.21% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 479.43 points or 0.76% to 63,222.00, Hang Seng advanced 31.09 points or 0.12% to 26,379.00, Straits Times rose 54.94 points or 1.1% to 5,000.94, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.08 points or 0.66% to 4,242.57 and KOSPI increased 200.86 points or 2.56% to 7,844.01, while Taiwan Weighted lost 523.82 points or 1.27% to 41,374.50 and Jakarta Composite plunged 147.73 points or 2.2% to 6,711.17.
European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 52.61 points or 0.51% to 10,317.93, France’s CAC rose 2.58 points or 0.03% to 7,982.50 and Germany’s DAX gained 124.07 points or 0.52% to 24,079.00.
