MUMBAI, May 12, 2026, 14:25 IST
Indian stocks slid for a fourth consecutive session on Tuesday, benchmarks falling over 1% during the day. A historic low for the rupee and crude oil holding above $100 a barrel have pushed India’s macro risks into sharp focus for traders.
Rising crude costs hit India hard—being the third-biggest oil importer makes the country sensitive to price shocks. Inflation risks climb, the rupee can take a hit, and both growth and profits are left exposed. The recent drop in markets came after fresh disappointment over stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations, keeping global energy supplies on edge.
This shift lands just ahead of India’s April inflation data, expected at 4 p.m. IST. Analysts in a Reuters survey see inflation picking up to 3.80% from March’s 3.40%, nudging closer to the RBI’s 4% target. Oil’s ripple effect on food prices remains a big question.
Nifty 50 was trading at 23,470.00, down 345.85 points, or 1.45%, as of 14:08 IST. Gift Nifty futures for May 26 slipped 0.97%. USDINR futures were quoted at 95.7700.
BSE Sensex skidded to 74,783.48, dropping 1,241.48 points, or 1.63%, according to Business Standard’s live tracker. Nifty MidCap slipped 1.50%, and Nifty SmallCap fared worse, off 2.07%. Brent crude was quoted at $106.85 a barrel, a 2.53% gain as traders weighed risks of supply snags near the Strait of Hormuz.
The rupee kicked off at 95.50 per dollar, then slid to 95.6250—crossing its earlier record low. Foreign investors have yanked over $20 billion from Indian equities since the Iran war started, Reuters reported. Preliminary figures put Monday’s selling by overseas investors close to $900 million, per Reuters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend called on citizens to save fuel, cut down on travel, and hold back on buying gold—moves that put discretionary import and travel names under the microscope again. According to Reuters, shares of jewellers, oil companies, and travel firms logged a second straight session of declines.
IT stocks pulled the index lower. The Nifty IT gauge slid 3.6%, touching lows not seen since May 2023, as TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Wipro all shed between 2.5% and 4%. The drop followed news that OpenAI rolled out the OpenAI Deployment Company, a majority-owned AI services business backed by over $4 billion.
India’s biggest IT companies came up short in their March-quarter earnings and guidance, HSBC analysts noted, warning that global AI investments might pull business away from standard IT services. The sector’s down 25.4% for the year—far steeper than the Nifty 50’s 9.7% slide, according to Reuters.
Energy explorers bucked the trend. ONGC jumped 6%, Oil India gained 6.6%, with both stocks reacting after CLSA called recent government royalty cuts on crude oil and gas output a big positive for these players.
Trying to tamp down supply worries, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India has boosted daily domestic LPG output to 54,000 tonnes from around 36,000 tonnes. The country is holding 60-day reserves for crude and LNG, with 45 days stocked for LPG.
There’s a risk: if the energy shock drags on, the rupee stays weak and the government faces tougher calls on setting fuel prices. Puri pointed out that India needs to gauge how long state-run fuel sellers can keep handling losses from selling transport fuels below cost. As Reuters noted, those losses have reached roughly 100 rupees a litre for diesel and 20 rupees for petrol.
Next up, traders are eyeing April CPI numbers and U.S. inflation due Tuesday, along with crude moves and foreign inflows. These will help clarify if the selloff is mostly macro-driven or sliding into earnings territory.
