Benchmark Stocks Post Mixed Performance: HUDCO, Muthoot Finance, Voltas, IOCL, Vedanta, HAL, Aditya Infotech Among Top Decliners

Indian Markets Close Lower Amid Volatility

Indian stocks closed the session on May 15 in the red after a volatile trading day that erased all the early gains in the benchmark indices and pushed them lower toward the close. The benchmark indices, including the Nifty and the Sensex, were weighed down by strong selling pressure in financial and metal stocks, which outweighed the gains in IT and select consumer goods stocks.

The Nifty concluded the session with a modest drop of 0.18% at the 23,646 level, while the Sensex ended at 75,210, a 0.25% drop from the previous close. The broader market, too, remained under pressure, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Small cap 100, each falling over 0.50%, underperforming the key averages.

Read also: SpaceX Seeks Record $75 Billion IPO, Potentially Positioning Elon Musk as the World's First Trillionaire

In terms of weekly performance, the Nifty 50 and Sensex each closed with losses of 2.22% and 2.65%, ending their two consecutive weeks of gains.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee fell to another record low, weakening to 96.5 against the US dollar and extending its streak of historic lows in recent sessions as a stronger greenback and elevated crude oil prices continued to weigh on sentiment. Sustained selling by overseas investors has further added to the currency's woes, as they continue to pull money out of domestic equities amid concerns over an economic slowdown.

As per the NSDL data, FPIs have sold over ₹2.20 lakh crore worth of Indian stocks in 2026 so far, higher than the ₹1.66 lakh crore in entire 2025. The rupee has weakened nearly 2% against the dollar over the last seven sessions. While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken multiple measures to slow the pace of depreciation, the currency has continued to slide to fresh record lows, with the Street increasingly worried that it could weaken to 100 against the dollar this year.