Indian bourses continue to trade under pressure

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade under pressure in morning deals, as rising crude oil prices and bearish trend in global equities weighed heavily on investors' sentiment. Besides, relentless foreign fund outflows also made investors jittery. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Traders remained cautious as the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) stated that India's agri and food products exports worth $11.8 billion to West Asia are at risk as the conflict in the region is disrupting shipping routes, raising insurance costs and creating uncertainty in logistics. Sector-wise, railway stocks remained in watch as Ministry of Railways said Indian Railways carried 137.72 million tonnes of freight in February 2026, registering a 3.96 per cent increase compared to 132.48 million tonnes in February 2025. On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain cautious and concerned about the fallout of the intensifying conflict in the Middle East in to the tenth day. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76700.68, down by 2218.22 points or 2.81% after trading in a range of 76424.55 and 77333.85. All the 30 stocks were declining on the index. 

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto down by 4.60%, Bankex down by 4.30%, PSU down by 3.88%, Consumer Discretionary down by 3.66% and Industrials down by 3.54%.

The top losers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation down by 6.67%, SBI down by 6.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.72%, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.70% and Asian Paints down by 4.55%.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India obtained the most favorable trade agreement with the United States (US) among its competing nations. He noted that the two countries share a very powerful relationship. He stated that the United States has the world’s largest economy, valued at about $30 trillion, and nobody can wish it away.

Moreover, he said that India and the United States are strategic partners and together represent the world’s two largest democracies. He added that ultimately a trade deal is about preference over competitors.

He mentioned ‘There’s a huge critical minerals partnership, there’s a defense partnership, there’s a huge amount of investments that flow into India from the US. So it’s a partnership of two countries which is going to define the future.’ These remarks come at an important time as the two countries have finalised the framework for the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement. Under the deal, the US had announced to reduce reciprocal tariffs on India to 18 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23781.85, down by 668.60 points or 2.73% after trading in a range of 23697.80 and 23959.70. There was 1 stock advancing against 49 stocks declining on the index.

The lone gainer on Nifty was Coal India up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 6.61%, SBI down by 6.47%, Shriram Finance down by 5.10%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 5.06% and Maruti Suzuki down by 4.84% were the top losers. 

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 3815.84 points or 6.86% to 51,805.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 1703.16 points or 5.07% to 31,896.38, Jakarta Composite plunged 259.06 points or 3.42% to 7,326.63, Shanghai Composite weakened 38.57 points or 0.94% to 4,085.62, KOSPI dropped 448.17 points or 8.02% to 5,136.70, Hang Seng declined 646.29 points or 2.51% to 25,111.00 and Straits Times fell 131.03 points or 2.7% to 4,717.22.