Sensex Edges Higher to 74,608; Nifty Closes at 23,412 as Asian Paints Leads Massive Gains

The Indian equity benchmarks officially snapped a massive four-day losing streak to close marginally higher in a highly volatile and completely unpredictable trading session on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Supported heavily by aggressive, massive buying in core metal and defense stocks, the BSE Sensex advanced by 49.73 points, or 0.07 percent, to officially settle at a highly robust 74,608.98. The broader NSE Nifty 50 ended 33.05 points, or 0.14 percent higher, closing exactly at 23,412.60. Absolute market momentum was strongly supported by domestic institutional investors (DIIs), who heavily purchased massive equities worth ₹7,990.32 crore the previous day, effectively and completely countering the massive ₹1,959.39 crore sell-off executed by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Asian Paints emerged as the absolute top gainer on the Nifty 50, soaring a massive 4.37 percent, closely followed by Adani Enterprises (4.07%), Tata Steel (3.73%), Hindalco Industries (3.61%), and Bharat Electronics (3%). On the absolute flip side, Eicher Motors was the biggest laggard, dropping a massive 2.16 percent, heavily accompanied by Mahindra & Mahindra (-1.54%) and Infosys (-1.48%). The incredibly volatile trading day was also massively shaped by crucial Q4 corporate earnings announcements. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) reported a completely spectacular 78% YoY massive jump in its Q4 net profit to an absolutely staggering ₹6,065 crore, heavily beating all street estimates. Conversely, Cipla announced a massive 55% YoY plunge in net profit to ₹554.64 crore. As global markets closely monitor the ongoing massive US-Iran geopolitical developments, domestic analysts heavily advise all retail investors to remain highly stock-specific and strictly cautious.