Dalal Street witnessed a classic tug-of-war on Monday, May 18, 2026, as benchmark indices staged a massive 1,135-point intraday recovery from early panic selling to end virtually unchanged. A weekend drone attack on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear facility pushed Brent crude to $111.28, forcing domestic oil marketing companies to slap a ₹3 per liter fuel hike onto consumers. The resulting inflation panic sent the Indian Rupee crashing to an all-time low of 96 per dollar and triggered a sharp 1% drop at the opening bell. However, defensive buying in IT heavyweights like Tech Mahindra (+4.22%) and robust healthcare counters pulled the Nifty 50 back to 23,649.95. Amid the chaos, Bharti Airtel made corporate history by unseating HDFC Bank as India’s second most valuable company.
