Bond tax cut speculation sparks broad-based market rally

Nifty closes near 23,700; IT sector continues to bleed

May 14, 2026

Welcome to Aftermarket Report, a newsletter where we do a quick daily wrap-up of what happened in the markets, both in India and globally.

In our latest episode of In The Money by Zerodha, From the macro forces that shape markets over long periods — interest rates, institutional flows, currency, and commodities — to the structural and regulatory shifts like taxation changes, leverage rules, and derivatives evolution, and finally to what you can observe directly in price, volatility, and market breadth, most market changes fit into one of three broad pillars.

This episode breaks down all three lenses of market regimes and explains why identifying them in real time is far harder than in hindsight — and why that distinction matters deeply for how we trade.

Check out In The Money

Markets Today

Nifty opened with a gap up of 117 points at 23,530, tracking positive global cues. The index saw a volatile start, briefly moving toward the 23,570 mark before slipping back to the 23,450 zone within the first hour.

Buying interest strengthened post 11 AM sharply after reports suggesting a possible tax cut on bonds for FIIs to boost inflows. Nifty rebounded strongly, reclaiming the 23,550 mark and surging past 23,650 by around noon.

In the second half, momentum remained firmly positive, with the index gradually inching higher toward the 23,700–23,750 zone. Nifty stayed largely range-bound near the day’s highs through most of the afternoon, with only minor pullbacks.

A brief dip in the final hour dragged the index toward the 23,670 mark before it eventually closed at 23,689.60.

The session was marked by a volatile start, followed by a strong recovery and sustained second-half momentum, keeping the index firmly in positive territory into the close.

Nifty jumped 1.18% to 23,689.6, while Bank Nifty gained 1.26% to 54,128.95. Breadth remained positive with 315 advances against 184 declines. VIX dropped 4.2% to 18.61, cooling off the panic seen over the previous four sessions.

Sectoral Indices Performance

Pharma ripped 2.74%, Metal climbed 2.04%, and Consumption and Infra both added 1.4%. IT dragged 2% lower. Auto and FMCG crawled up 0.6% and 0.3%. Eleven of twelve sectors closed green.

Winners & Losers

Midcap surged 1.36% to 14,265.55, outpacing large caps. Breadth at 315 advances shows rotation into beaten-down pockets after four days of relentless selling.

Momentum Screener

Global Markets

Commodities

Crude slipped 0.74% to 9,639. Gold flat at 1,62,152, silver down 1.2% at 2,96,649. Oil’s decline eases inflation worries but does nothing to stop the FII exodus.

Bond Yields & Currency

India 10Y yield at 7.021%, US 10Y at 4.46%. The rupee ticked down 0.03% to 95.72, remaining stable despite the streak of foreign selling.

FII / DII Flows

Here’s the trend of FII-DII activity from the last 5 days:

Thematic Indices

Tijori’s niche indices, where pockets of the market beyond standard sector baskets are sorted by today’s move. You can also track the Promoter buying and other interesting stuff, like Capex activity by the companies in the Tijori App’s idea dashboard

Change in OI for the day

The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 19th May:

The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,000, followed by 23,800, indicating potential resistance at the 23,800 -23,900 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 23,500, followed by 23,400, suggesting support at 23,500-23,400.

Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations; however, generally, an increase in Call OI indicates resistance in a falling market, while an increase in Put OI indicates support in a rising market.

Source: Sensibull

Management Chatter

In this section, we highlight interesting comments from the management of major companies and policymakers in the Indian and Global Economies.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, on the Indian IT industry’s dividend policy:

“We’ll do dividends and buybacks, but we’ll never become like IT companies that have done nothing but just taken money out as dividends and buybacks, and become a shadow of themselves,” Mittal said.
Many of those firms “should have been buying leading-edge businesses in their own industry in the last 10-15 years” and would have been “in a different position today” had they pursued acquisitions more actively. - Link

Prashant Jain, veteran investor and 3P Investment Managers, on the current crisis:

“I think the current geopolitics impacts India only to the extent of oil prices and if some supply disruptions are caused. Otherwise, I think, the rest of it is quite manageable.”
“The world is probably short five to seven million barrels of oil per day, which is 5-7 percent. And I think India will be able to source oil.”
“LPG, if you are not able to make up, maybe the households will have to shift to induction or to coal, which again is okay. Life will go on,”
“Oil was $10 or $20 in 2000. It went to $140 in 2007. Yet your economy did well. Markets did pretty well.” - Link