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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Mar-17-2026

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Tuesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement scheduled for March 18, 2026. After a flat-to-positive start, the indices witnessed volatility in the morning session amid weekly F&O expiry. Investors stayed cautious amid the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East and ongoing FIIs outflow. However, in the afternoon session, markets gained traction and settled near the day’s highs, led by gains in auto and metal stocks.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India inks ToR with Philippines, Maldives to start trade pact negotiations: Traders took support with the Commerce Ministry’s statement that India has inked terms of reference with the Philippines and the Maldives to start negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs).

Unemployment rate falls marginally to 4.9% in February: Some support came as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed that overall unemployment among persons aged 15 years and above fell marginally to 4.9 per cent in February from 5 per cent in January this year.

India’s exports dip slightly in February: Traders overlooked the government data showing that the country's merchandise exports dropped marginally by 0.81 per cent to $36.61 billion in February. Imports increased by 24.11 per cent to $63.71 billion in February this year from $51.33 billion recorded a year ago.

On the global front: European markets traded in green, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. Asian markets ended mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight.

The BSE Sensex ended at 76070.84, up by 567.99 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 75324.73 and 76304.26. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.81%, Auto up by 2.05%, Realty up by 1.79%, Basic Materials up by 1.69% and Industrials up by 1.54%, while IT down by 0.87% and FMCG down by 0.58% were only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 5.56%, Tata Steel up by 4.41%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.91%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.59% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.29%, ITC down by 1.17%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.13%, TCS down by 0.56% and HCL Technologies down by 0.55% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, exporters dealing with the fallout of the West Asia crisis may soon receive support from the commerce ministry, as Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that ‘Hopefully within this week...we will send the detailed briefing on what are the steps we are taking in the Department of Commerce to support the exports during this troubled time, especially in the Middle East.’

An inter-ministerial group is keeping tabs on developments on a daily basis and interacting with exporters. The exporting community from sectors such as dry fruits, and fruits and vegetables has stated that their shipments have been impacted due to the war.

Further, several ministries and departments including shipping and Customs have come out with support measures for the trading community, such as norms by the Customs department for dealing with export cargo returning to Indian ports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions in maritime routes amid the West Asia crisis. Commerce Secretary noted that ‘This is a collaborative exercise which will carry on because challenges will occur as we go along.’ Meanwhile, India's exports to West Asia were $58.8 billion in 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23581.15, up by 172.35 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 23346.60 and 23656.80. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 5.67%, Tata Steel up by 4.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.06%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.60% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.29%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.94%, Cipla down by 1.72%, Infosys down by 1.35%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.35% and ITC down by 1.10% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 52.76 points or 0.51% to 10,370.45, France’s CAC rose 36.53 points or 0.46% to 7,972.50 and Germany’s DAX gained 44.19 points or 0.19% to 23,608.20.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday tracking broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Further, investors were optimistic as the crude oil rates stabilized with the easing supply concerns after Tehran allowed a limited number of vessels from India, Pakistan, and Turkey to navigate the Strait of Hormuz. Besides, rebound in AI-related technology and automobile sector stocks kept the market sentiment upbeat. South Korea's KOSPI advanced the most among Asian indices, marking gains for the second straight session.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,049.91

-34.88

-0.86

Hang Seng

25,868.54

34.52

0.13

Jakarta Composite

7,106.84

84.55

1.19

KLSE Composite

1,710.99

14.43

0.85

Nikkei 225

53,700.39

-50.76

-0.09

Straits Times

4,935.97

67.28

1.38

KOSPI Composite

5,640.48

90.63

1.63

Taiwan Weighted

33,836.57

494.06

1.48
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