Benchmark Sensex recovered from early losses to settle 117 points higher on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), helped by a rally in Reliance Industries, even as investors remained cautious due to higher crude prices and a weaker rupee.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 117.54 points, or 0.16%, to settle at 75,318.39. The index opened lower and fell by 671.44 points, or 0.89%, to a day’s low of 74,529.41. However, buying in oil & gas, financial and auto shares in the last hour helped the index trim losses and rebound around 877 points from the day’s low.

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 41 points, or 0.17%, to end at 23,659. The barometer moved between a low of 23,397.30 and a high of 23,690.90 during the day.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Reliance Industries rallied 2.83%. Bajaj Finserv, Trent, InterGlobe Aviation, Axis Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the winners.

Bharat Electronics, Tech Mahindra, Eternal and Tata Steel were among the major laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 2% lower at $109 per barrel.

“Markets recovered from intraday lows, supported by selective buying in large-cap stocks across autos, financials, and oil & gas,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

However, persistent rupee weakness and elevated crude prices continue to weigh on sentiment due to concerns around inflation and margin pressures, while FII flows remain mixed, he added.

Broader markets also advanced as the BSE MidCap Select index jumped 1.02% and the SmallCap Select index rose by 0.16%. Among sectoral indices, Power surged the most by 1.78%, followed by Oil & Gas (1.37%), Capital Goods (1.52%), Energy (1.45%), Industrials (0.91%) and Auto (0.82%).

FMCG declined 0.63%, Focused IT (0.27%), IT (0.24%) and Consumer Durables (0.15%). A total of 2,120 stocks advanced, while 1,981 declined and 209 remained unchanged on the BSE.

“The initial weakness in domestic equities was primarily driven by rising global bond yields, elevated crude oil prices, and continued geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-Iran conflict,” Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Limited, said.

The rupee weakened to a fresh record low against the U.S. dollar, inching closer to the 97 mark, while persistent foreign institutional outflows further weighed on market sentiment. The rupee hit a record low of 96.95 to the U.S. dollar before settling at 96.84 to the dollar, down by 14 paise.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading higher. U.S. markets ended lower on Tuesday (May 19, 2026).

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) said he was an hour away from making a decision to restart attacks on Iran, but put it off after receiving a call from interlocutors, including Qatar and the UAE, on Tehran being “reasonable” in the peace talks.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,457.49 crore on Tuesday (May 19, 2026), according to exchange data.

On Tuesday (May 19, 2026), the Sensex declined 114.19 points, or 0.15%, to settle at 75,200.85. The Nifty dipped 31.95 points, or 0.14%, to end at 23,618.