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Markets relinquish some gains in late trade
Mar-20-2026

Benchmarks relinquished some gains in late afternoon session as weakness in rupee and high crude oil prices sparked caution among investors. The Brent crude prices continued to trade above the $100 per barrel mark, while rupee has weakened against the US dollar to trade above 93-mark. However, markets continued to trade in green amid rising expectation of easing West Asia conflict after Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the war with may finish soon. Besides, some value buying following the recent pull back by the markets, supported the gains.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red tracking negative cues from Wall Street overnight. European equity markets were trading higher as oil prices moderated in response to the efforts by the U.S. and Israel to ease concerns about ongoing fuel supply issues.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74627.40, up by 420.16 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 74535.26 and 75286.39. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.55%, Healthcare up by 1.50%, Energy up by 1.47%, TECK up by 1.36%, Metal up by 1.33%, while Realty down by 0.67% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.18%, Tata Steel up by 3.10%, Reliance Industries up by 2.78%, HCL Technologies up by 2.73% and ITC up by 2.40%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.28%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.94%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.31%, Axis Bank down by 0.23% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal said India is ready to meet this summer season’s (May-June 2026) projected peak power demand of 270 gigawatt (GW). The statement assumes significance amidst the escalating West Asia conflict, when the use of electric appliances like induction cookers, as well as electric vehicles, is likely to increase in the country. 

The minister said the country's peak power demand touched 250 GW in FY25. In FY26, the power ministry had set a higher target of 270 GW, but due to weather conditions, peak demand did not increase to estimated levels. He said ‘this time too, we've made preparations that if we need to supply up to 270 GW of power this May-June, then we are prepared. There's no problem whatsoever.’  

Talking about the power demand, he stated that this is only going to increase in the future as the era of AI dawns, data centres are built, and EVs are being used. He said ‘as we progress in all these areas, we'll need at least 30 GW for these tasks over the next 5-6 years. At that time, our target of 300 GW (peak power demand) will be reached on its own.’ Talking about the power transmission infrastructure in the country, he states that India plans to complete a 900 GW transmission line by 2034. As far as energy, i.e., transmission, is concerned, he noted that India has added 2.09 lakh circuit kilometers (ckm) of lines to the network in the last 10 years, representing a 72 per cent increase.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23176.65, up by 174.50 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 23109.90 and 23345.15. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.71%, Coal India up by 3.27%, Tata Steel up by 3.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.13% and Reliance Industries up by 2.59%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.58%, HDFC Bank down by 2.09%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.50%, ONGC down by 1.26% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 145.8 points or 0.43% to 33,543.88, Hang Seng declined 215.58 points or 0.85% to 25,285.00, Straits Times fell 20.65 points or 0.42% to 4,946.96 and Shanghai Composite weakened 49.37 points or 1.25% to 3,957.18, while KOSPI increased 17.98 points or 0.31% to 5,781.20. Meanwhile, Indonesian and Japanese markets were closed on account of holiday.

European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.9 points or 0.23% to 10,086.40, France’s CAC rose 33.03 points or 0.42% to 7,840.90 and Germany’s DAX gained 171.44 points or 0.75% to 23,011.00.
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