Indian markets continued to trade deep in the red during the early afternoon session due to rising crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Traders were concerned that rising crude prices are likely to fuel inflation. Hefty selling pressure in other Asian markets also forced domestic markets to trade lower. Investors overlooked the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement 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. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower as China's consumer prices increased the most in more than three years in February, driven by higher spending during the Lunar New Year holiday, while producer prices continued to fall.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76994.20, down by 1924.70 points or 2.44% after trading in a range of 76424.55 and 77333.85. All 30 stocks were declining on the index.
The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto down by 4.35%, PSU down by 3.74%, Bankex down by 3.71%, Oil & Gas down by 3.63% and Industrials was down by 3.35%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.
The top losers on the Sensex were SBI down by 5.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.11%, Ultratech Cement down by 5.02%, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.80% and Interglobe Aviation down by 4.30%.
Meanwhile, amidst West Asia conflict, the think tank - Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has warned that India's agri and food products exports worth $11.8 billion to the region are at risk as the conflict has disrupted shipping routes, raising insurance costs and creating uncertainty in logistics. It added that the region’s geographic proximity and large expatriate Indian population have historically made it a natural market for India's food exports.
During 2025, the region accounted for 21.8% of India’s total exports of agricultural and food products such as cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and spices. West Asia is also a key destination for exports including rice, bananas, onions and vegetables, pulses, nuts, coffee, tea and a wide range of spices. In 2025, India exported $7.48 billion of cereals, fruits, vegetables and spices to West Asia, with the region accounting for 29.2% of India's global exports in this category.
It noted that the rice exports will face largest potential impact due to the conflict as the region is a destination of $4.43 billion worth of India’s rice exports, accounting for 36.7% of the country’s global rice exports. Besides, the country exported bananas worth $396.5 million and onions and garlic worth $111 million last year to that region, which includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, among others.
The other major products that India exported to the region last year include nutmeg, mace & cardamom worth $295.5 million, spice seeds such as cumin & coriander worth $163 million, ginger & turmeric worth $173 million, coffee worth $240.7 million, tea worth $410.1 million, processed food, sugar & cocoa preparations worth $1.35 billion, and fish, meat, frozen & processed products worth $1.81 billion.
It added that India exported $281.1 million of dairy products to West Asia in 2025, accounting for 28.9% of India's total dairy exports. Similarly, the country shipped $197.5 million worth of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to the region during the same period, and these shipments accounted for 43.3%of India's exports in this category.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23865.00, down by 585.45 points or 2.39% after trading in a range of 23697.80 and 23959.70. There was 1 stock advancing against 49 stocks declining on the index.
The sole gainer on Nifty was Wipro up by 0.54%, while Tata Motors Passenger down by 5.60%, SBI down by 5.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.07%, Ultratech Cement down by 4.97% and Maruti Suzuki down by 4.82% were the top losers.
All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 2888.84 points or 5.48% to 52,732.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 1489.12 points or 4.64% to 32,110.42, Hang Seng declined 504.29 points or 2% to 25,253.00, KOSPI dropped 333.00 points or 6.34% to 5,251.87, Jakarta Composite plunged 191.44 points or 2.59% to 7,394.25, Straits Times fell 104.01 points or 2.19% to 4,744.24 and Shanghai Composite was down by 28.17 points or 0.69% to 4,096.02.
