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Bears take full control over markets amid global weakness, rising crude oil prices
Mar-23-2026

Indian equity markets ended sharply lower on Monday, with both Sensex and Nifty down around 2.5%. The indices made gap-down start and remained under pressure due to global weakness and rising crude oil prices, amid escalating geopolitical tensions fuelling worries over energy supply. Markets attempted a brief recovery in the late afternoon on bargain hunting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said efforts are being made to ensure energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the rebound was short-lived, and losses deepened in the final hours of trade.

Some of the important factors in trade:       

India's core sector growth slows down to 2.3% in February 2026: Some pessimism came as the government data showed that India’s production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors slowed down to 2.3% in February 2026 from 3.4% in the same month last year due to fall in production of crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products. 

Indian firms facing shipment delays, input shortages amid Iran war: Traders were concerned as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said Indian companies are facing disruptions ranging from shipment delays to shortages of key raw materials due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, and highlighted growing stress across sectors dependent on global trade flows.

India's forex reserves drop $7 billion to $709.76 billion: Some cautiousness came as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that India's forex reserves dropped $7.052 billion to $709.76 billion during the week ended March 13.  In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $11.68 billion to $716.81 billion.

RBI injects Rs 79,256 crore into banking system: Traders overlooked report that the RBI has infused Rs 79,256 crore transient liquidity into the banking system through overnight variable rate (VRR) auction. The RBI injected the funds at cut-off and weighted average rates of 5.26 per cent.

Global front: European markets were trading higher, after negative start, as President Trump announced a five‑day pause on military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, easing geopolitical fears and boosting risk sentiment. Asian markets ended in red amid escalating tensions in West Asia and growing concerns over a global energy crisis.

Finally, the BSE Sensex slipped 1836.57 points or 2.46% to 72,696.39 and the CNX Nifty was down by 601.85 points or 2.60% to 22,512.65.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 73,732.58 and 72,558.44, respectively. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. 

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables down by 4.91%, Metal down by 4.76%, Realty down by 4.75%, Basic Materials down by 4.35% and Telecom down by 4.07%, while there was no gainer on the BSE sectoral front.

The few gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.83%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.39%, Infosys up by 0.28% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 6.24%, Trent down by 5.90%, Ultratech Cement down by 5.20%, Bharat Electronics down by 4.85% and Interglobe Aviation down by 4.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in efforts to enhance credit flow to the microfinance sector, the government has rolled out a Rs 20,000-crore Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions-2.0 (CGSMFI-2.0). The scheme comes amid ongoing financial stress in the microfinance sector, which has been leading to slowdown in lending by banks to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) due to which smaller MFIs are struggling to get loans.

The scheme will provide guarantee cover to Banks/ Financial Institution (FIs) through National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) against expected losses on the financial assistance extended by them to Non-Banking Financial Company-Microfinance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) and MFIs for on lending to small borrowers.

Under the scheme, the eligible borrowers include existing or new small borrowers within the regulatory definition of micro finance as prescribed by RBI from time to time. The guarantee coverage will be 80% of amount in default for small, 75% for medium and 70% for large NBFC-MFIs/ MFIs. The guarantee fee will be 0.50% p.a., on sanctioned amount (1st year) & outstanding amount (thereafter). Besides, the scheme will be valid till June 30, 2026 or loans till Rs 20,000 crore are guaranteed, whichever is earlier.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 22,851.70 and 22,471.25, respectively. There were 3 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.   

The few gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 1.75%, Power Grid up by 0.81% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 6.43%, Shriram Finance down by 6.16%, Trent down by 5.97%, JIO Financial Services down by 5.60% and HDFC Life down by 5.38% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; Germany’s DAX jumped 405.31 points or 1.81% to 22,785.50, France’s CAC rose 94.78 points or 1.24% to 7,760.40 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 13.92 points or 0.14% to 9,932.25.

Asian markets settled lower on Monday as the US-Israel conflict with Iran entered its fourth week. US President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum on Saturday threatening to ‘obliterate’ Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened by late Monday, while Tehran warned it would respond to any such strikes by targeting US energy, IT and desalination infrastructure across the region. Market sentiments weakened further as elevated crude oil prices exacerbated global inflation and economic growth concerns, reinforcing a hawkish stance among major central banks. Investors awaited for the release of the S&P Global Flash US PMI data due Tuesday to gauge economic growth, inflation, and Federal Reserve policy direction. Indonesian and Malaysian markets were closed in observance of the Eid al-Fitr festival.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,813.28

-143.77

-3.63

Hang Seng

24,382.47

-894.85

-3.54

Jakarta Composite

--

--

--

KLSE Composite

--

--

--

Nikkei 225

51,515.49

-1,857.04

-3.48

Straits Times

4,841.30

-107.57

-2.17

KOSPI Composite

5,405.75

-375.45

-6.49

Taiwan Weighted

32,722.50

-821.38

-2.45
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