Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green terrain in morning deals, supported by buying in TECK, IT and Telecom stocks and firm trends in the US markets. Traders took support with exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers purchasing equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday. Traders took a note of report that financial sector regulators have discussed key global and domestic macroeconomic developments and ways to enhance resilience through better coordination amid geopolitical frictions. Sector-wise, sugar stocks remained in watch as India has banned the export of sugar till September 30 this year with immediate effect, a move which would help enhance domestic availability and contain prices. Earlier, the exports were under a restricted category, under which a license was required for the outbound shipments. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid concerns over the re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after ship attacks and seizures near the Strait of Hormuz.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75805.17, up by 406.45 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 75251.15 and 75870.36. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.80%, IT up by 1.73%, Telecom up by 0.92%, FMCG up by 0.84% and Healthcare up by 0.73%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.04%, Realty down by 0.95%, Capital Goods down by 0.84%, PSU down by 0.56% and Energy down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.48%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.31%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.96% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.42%, SBI down by 1.19%, Trent down by 1.04%, Eternal down by 0.53% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.45% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) filings by Indian companies, including non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), dropped 51% to $5.43 billion in March 2026 as compared to $11.04 billion in the same month of the previous year, owing to financial market volatility triggered by geopolitical tension in West Asia. However, the March 2026 fillings were higher than $4.59 billion recorded in February 2026.
According to data, out of the total, general permission accounted for $5.22 billion, while special permission filings stood at $212 million. It suggested that despite sluggish capital expenditure growth, there were 19 filings for new projects totalling a borrowing of $1.14 billion and $1.22 billion were intended to refinance either existing ECB or rupee loans. Among the prominent firms filling an intent in March 2026 with the RBI was Rajasthan Part I Transmission, which plans to raise for $750 million for a new project.
Earlier this year, the RBI issued liberalised ECB guidelines, whereby Indian companies can benefit from a higher borrowing limit at prevailing market-related conditions, change the currency of an ECB and convert the ECB into a non-debt instrument, among others. Further, a borrower under a restructuring scheme or corporate insolvency resolution process can tap this route to raise funds.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23828.15, up by 138.55 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 23663.35 and 23837.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors Passenger up by 4.78%, Coal India up by 2.92%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.80%, Infosys up by 2.59% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.90%, Reliance Industries down by 1.43%, SBI down by 1.29%, Trent down by 1.13% and Eternal down by 0.48% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1099.05 points or 1.75% to 61,555.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 415.21 points or 0.99% to 41,336.54, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.41 points or 0.34% to 4,163.51, KOSPI dropped 433.13 points or 5.43% to 7,548.28, Hang Seng declined 313.04 points or 1.19% to 26,076.00 and Straits Times fell 3.89 points or 0.08% to 4,992.05.
