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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Mar-24-2026

Indian equity benchmarks rebounded on Tuesday, with both the Nifty and Sensex closing with significant gains after the previous session’s sharp sell-off. All sectoral indices ended in the green, led by gains banking, financial, and IT stocks. Markets made an optimistic start, as traders drew support from US President Donald Trump's announcement of a temporary halt on strikes targeting Iranian energy infrastructure. During the afternoon session, the indices extended their gains and settled near the day’s highs after reports indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme Leader, has agreed to negotiate with the United States and reach an agreement.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Government restores full RoDTEP benefits to support exporters amid West Asia crisis: Some support came as the government restored full benefits under the RoDTEP scheme to exporters amidst the ongoing West Asia crisis disrupting global trade. 

Jaishankar calls for tackling non-tariff barriers to boost India-Russia trade: Traders took note of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India and Russia need to address issues such as non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments to increase the two-way annual trade to $100 billion by 2030. 

HSBC flash India Manufacturing PMI fell to 53.8 in March 2026: Traders ignored the report that HSBC flash India Manufacturing PMI fell to 53.8 in March 2026 from 56.9 in February, exceeding expectations for a slight easing to 56.8.

On the global front: European equity markets traded in red after services sector’ growth in euro area almost stalled in March. Eurozone Services PMI fell to 50.1 in March 2026 from 51.9 in February, below the estimates of 51.1.  Asian markets ended mostly in the green, after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed strikes against Iran's power plants for five days.

The BSE Sensex ended at 74068.45, up by 1372.06 points or 1.89% after trading in a range of 73084.46 and 74489.39. There were 29 stocks advancing against one stock declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 2.98%, Consumer Durables up by 2.46%, Bankex up by 2.40%, Consumer Disc up by 2.39%, Auto up by 2.30%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 5.41%, Larsen & Toubro up by 5.33%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.94%, Eternal up by 4.94% and Asian Paints up by 4.77%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 1.03% was the only loser. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, as India imports around 80 per cent of its oil requirements, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its article on the state of the economy published in the March bulletin has said that India must closely monitor the evolving situation in West Asia and take proactive steps to limit any adverse spillover effect.  However, it noted that India’s foreign exchange reserves remain adequate to cushion the economy from global turbulence. It added that the government’s plan to create an Economic Stabilisation Fund would further provide fiscal headroom and buffer to proactively respond to global shocks.    

The article said the conflict in the Middle East coupled with fresh US trade investigations have resulted in increased volatility in the global financial markets. The renewed conflict in the Middle East and the US investigations into trade practices of key trading partners have brought uncertainties regarding global energy security, US import tariffs and global supply chains back to the centre stage. It cautioned that a prolonged period of war and high uncertainty would be detrimental to the broader global outlook, which was already in a state of flux prior to the recent events.  

Despite these risks, it emphasised that India’s ability to absorb external shocks has strengthened over time, supported by its strong growth, sound macroeconomic fundamentals and robust external sector buffers. On the energy front, it said India has progressively diversified its crude oil import sources and augmented its domestic refining capacity. It said since the start of the conflict, several policy measures have been implemented to blunt the immediate impact of the disruptions in global fuel supply chains and to achieve more effective use of domestic capacity to meet shortfalls. 

It further said the second advance estimates of GDP for 2025-26 indicate sustained resilience of the Indian economy. High frequency indicators signal towards economic activity gaining momentum in February. CPI headline inflation picked up in February on account of food and beverages. System liquidity has remained comfortable and the total flow of financial resources to the commercial sector rose, with a rise in financing from both the bank and non-bank sources.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22912.40, up by 399.75 points or 1.78% after trading in a range of 22624.20 and 23057.30. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 5.25%, Interglobe Aviation up by 5.21%, Eternal up by 4.89%, Asian Paints up by 4.53% and Bajaj Finance up by 4.48%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.89%, Power Grid down by 1.03%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.43%, Sun Pharma down by 0.29% and Cipla down by 0.20% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; Germany’s DAX lost 103.96 points or 0.46% to 22,549.90, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 7.19 points or 0.07% to 9,886.96, and France’s CAC fell 15.7 points or 0.2% to 7,710.50.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight after US President Donald Trump postponed strikes on Iran's power plants for five days, citing what he said were productive conversations with Tehran to end the war. Japanese shares gained after Japan’s core consumer inflation fell below the Bank of Japan’s 2% target in February for the first time in nearly four years, as government subsidies on fuel and utilities offset rising import costs driven by a weak yen and elevated oil prices amid geopolitical tensions. Chinese shares rebounded on reports that China would halve planned fuel price hikes to ease the financial burden on consumers, while PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng pledged to maintain a supportive policy to foster stable growth and market stability. Indonesian markets remained closed for Idul Fitri Festival holidays.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,881.28

68.00

1.78

Hang Seng

25,063.71

681.24

2.79

Jakarta Composite

--

--

--

KLSE Composite

1,708.76

-11.95

-0.69

Nikkei 225

52,252.28

736.79

1.43

Straits Times

4,862.43

21.13

0.44

KOSPI Composite

5,553.92

148.17

2.74

Taiwan Weighted

32,612.24

-110.26

-0.34
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