Apollo Hospitals, Honeywell Automation rally; Sensex falls 135 points, Nifty flat

The equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended flat after a volatile trading session on Thursday (May 21), as selling pressure in financial and information technology stocks erased early gains.

The Sensex declined 135 points to close at 75,183, while the Nifty settled 4 points lower at 23,655 after slipping below the 23,700 level. Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Tech Mahindra were among the top losers on the Nifty.

The Nifty Bank underperformed broader benchmarks and dropped 123 points to 53,439 after falling more than 1% from the day’s highs. The Midcap Index ended 23 points lower at 61,301.

Also Read: Here's why shares of Bosch India fell up to 5% on Thursday

From the Sensex basket, Grasim Industries Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Trent Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd were the major gainers. Bajaj Finance Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd and Tata Consumer Products Ltd were the biggest laggards.

Despite the weak close in benchmark indices, market breadth remained positive, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 3:2 in favour of advancing shares.

Among sectoral movers, oil marketing companies gained after Brent crude prices fell below $105 per barrel. Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and BPCL rose up to 2%. Grasim Industries extended gains and emerged as the top Nifty gainer following its March quarter results.

Apollo Hospitals advanced 3% after reporting March quarter earnings above estimates, with EBITDA rising 31.3% year-on-year. Honeywell Automation surged 17% after posting strong fourth-quarter results, with margins expanding by 140 basis points year-on-year.

The Nifty IT index ended lower for the second consecutive session, with Coforge falling nearly 4% from the day’s highs. IRB Infrastructure Developers climbed nearly 9% after the company said it is targeting over 20% toll revenue growth in FY27.

Jubilant FoodWorks dropped nearly 8% after its quarterly results, while Jefferies cut its target price on the stock to ₹600 per share from ₹850 per share. Sammaan Capital jumped 9% after the company’s balance sheet clean-up reduced net non-performing assets to zero.

JSW Cement gained 5% following strong March quarter results, with margins expanding by 530 basis points year-on-year. WeWork India rose 19% after reporting a 78% year-on-year rise in fourth-quarter net profit.

In the currency market, the rupee rebounded sharply and gained over 40 paise against the US dollar during the session.