Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Sensex and Nifty were trading higher in early deals with notable gains of around half a percent each on account of value buying in IT and Teck stocks. Some support came as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on May 14, 2026, with a net inflow of around Rs 187 crore. Traders took note of report that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has pitched for aligning standards and customs procedures between India and Africa to boost bilateral trade.
On the sectoral front, stocks of oil marketing companies (OMCs) - IOC, BOCL, and HPCL - were in limelight as the government hiked retail selling prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 3, effective from today. Besides, Gold and jewellery stocks were in focus as the government imposed a limit of 100 kg on gold imports under the Advance Authorisation scheme, which allows jewellery exporters to import raw or input materials at zero duty.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on higher crude oil prices as traders remained concerned about possibility of attacks and ship seizures weighed at the Strait of Hormuz. Besides, all eyes are on Beijing where Trump is set to wrap up his two-day state visit on Friday. Japan's Nikkei dropped as data showed the country's wholesale inflation accelerated to 4.9 per cent in April.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75725.11, up by 326.39 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 75251.15 and 75792.68. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.20%, TECK up by 1.79%, FMCG up by 0.65%, Auto up by 0.53% and Consumer Durables up by 0.36%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.02%, Metal down by 0.68%, Energy down by 0.58%, PSU down by 0.52% and Capital Goods down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.79%, Infosys up by 2.77%, TCS up by 2.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.68% and HCL Technologies up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.36%, SBI down by 1.15%, Trent down by 0.95%, Eternal down by 0.77% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.43% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, ahead of the India-Africa Business Dialogue (IABD), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for aligning standards and customs procedures between India and Africa to boost bilateral trade. Highlighting the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), valued at nearly $3.4 trillion, alongside India’s rapidly expanding $4 trillion economy, he stressed that these synergies could unlock resilient partnerships, diversify supply chains, and move trade beyond raw materials toward high-value manufacturing and fully integrated value chains.
He said renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia, electric mobility, digitalisation, and telecommunications are key sectors to boost cooperation. Bilateral trade between India and Africa reached $93.69 billion in 2025-26, registering a 14.39 per cent growth over the preceding year. India's exports to Africa stood at $45.42 billion, while imports reached $48.27 billion during the same period.
Besides, the government has said the upcoming IABD and Exhibition, to be held on the sidelines of the 4th India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV), will serve as a key platform to deepen economic, strategic and technology partnerships between India and African nations. The dialogue is aimed at expanding cooperation in trade, investment, technology, and people-to-people ties, while also strengthening South-South collaboration.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23795.60, up by 106.00 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 23663.35 and 23818.00. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 4.83%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.91%, Infosys up by 2.77%, Coal India up by 2.30% and TCS up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.90%, Reliance Industries down by 1.39%, SBI down by 1.19%, Trent down by 0.98% and Eternal down by 0.80% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 977.05 points or 1.56% to 61,677.00, KOSPI dropped 299.59 points or 3.75% to 7,681.82, Hang Seng declined 238.04 points or 0.91% to 26,151.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 176 points or 0.42% to 41,575.75 and Straits Times fell 4.47 points or 0.09% to 4,991.47. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 5.14 points or 0.12% to 4,183.06.
