Nifty 50 Falls 1.29% on May 18; Tata Steel, Power Grid & More Lead Sharp Decline

Indian benchmark index Nifty 50 witnessed sharp selling pressure during early trade on May 18, 2026. The index declined 303.85 points or 1.29% to trade at 23,339.65. The market opened at 23,482.20 and touched an intraday low of 23,317.10 during the session.

Market breadth remained weak, with only four stocks advancing while 46 stocks traded in the red, indicating broad-based weakness across sectors.

Heavy Selling in Metals, Banking and Power Stocks

Metal and infrastructure-related stocks emerged among the top losers in the session. Tata Steel declined 5.35% to ₹205.24, becoming one of the biggest laggards on the index.

Power Grid Corporation also witnessed strong selling pressure, falling 4.27% to ₹292.80. Banking heavyweight State Bank of India (SBI) dropped 2.86% to ₹935.70 amid weakness in financial stocks.

Retail-focused Trent slipped 2.75% to ₹3,988.50, while Eternal fell 2.98% to ₹234.00. These losses contributed significantly to the benchmark’s decline.

The sharp fall across multiple sectors reflected cautious investor sentiment and increased market volatility.

IT and Telecom Stocks Offer Some Support

Despite the overall weakness, select information technology and telecom stocks managed to trade in positive territory.

Infosys gained 0.96% to ₹1,129.70 after touching a high of ₹1,136.80 during the session. Bharti Airtel rose 0.43% to ₹1,913.60, while Tech Mahindra advanced 0.23% to ₹1,373.70.

Coal India also remained marginally positive, gaining 0.16% to ₹462.95.

Conclusion

The sharp decline in the Nifty 50 highlights prevailing volatility in Indian equity markets, with heavy losses in metal, banking, and power stocks weighing on investor sentiment. While selective strength was visible in IT and telecom shares, broader market weakness dominated the session. Investors are likely to remain cautious in the near term as markets continue reacting to domestic and global economic cues.

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