Indian markets failed to hold their recovery and extended their losses in early afternoon session following weakness in other Asian markets. Sentiments remained downbeat with data showing Foreign Institutional Investors turned net sellers after two days and offloaded equities worth Rs 2,150.51 crore on Thursday. Traders overlooked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India-US trade agreement is in the final stages of detailing and is likely to be completed very soon. He noted that the trade deal will open up a ‘new phase’ in the relations. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent and maintained policy stance at 'neutral'.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid uncertainty about geopolitical and trade conflicts.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83175.22, down by 138.71 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 82925.35 and 83457.76. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.49%, Telecom up by 0.49%, Power up by 0.16% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.01%, while IT down by 1.83%, Auto down by 1.02%, PSU down by 0.94%, Healthcare down by 0.90% and Consumer discretionary was down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 5.12%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.34%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.05%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.64% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.04%, Adani Ports down by 1.97%, TCS down by 1.91%, SBI down by 1.62% and Asian Paints down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur has said the record gross market borrowing target of Rs 17.2 lakh crore for the upcoming financial year (FY27) announced by the government in budget, will be carried out in a non-disruptive manner, and ensuring that enough funds are available for the private sector. She said the borrowing programme also includes Rs 5.5 lakh crore for repayment. So, net market borrowing has been pegged at Rs 11.73 lakh crore for FY27, which is broadly in line with past levels. She noted that for FY26, the government had estimated gross market borrowings of Rs 14.61 lakh crore as against the budget estimate of Rs 14.82 lakh crore. 

Talking about the Budget announcement related to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Economic Affairs Secretary said the industry's long-pending demand has been accommodated in this Budget. They were demanding that if the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act can be modified and amended, and aligned with the functional requirements of AIFs. The amendments aim to remove operational constraints faced by AIFs, which often operate as trusts, by allowing them to transition into or operate as LLPs. She said there will also be rationalisation of document filing for entry and exit of partners, and added that these amendments are going to be of a nature that, by becoming LLPs, their liability will be limited. 

Besides, she said the Budget proposal of permitting Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs), including non-resident Indians (NRIs) and foreign investors, to buy and sell Indian stocks through the portfolio investment scheme (PIS) route is another important announcement to increase foreign currency flow. She said the Budget also proposed to increase the investment limit for an individual PROI under this scheme from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, with an overall investment limit for all individual PROIs to 24 per cent, from the current 10 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25570.30, down by 72.50 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 25491.90 and 25657.90. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 5.24%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.91%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.74%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.35% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.26%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.13%, TCS down by 2.11%, SBI Life down by 2.04% and Adani Ports down by 2.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 384.24 points or 1.43% to 26,501.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 229.46 points or 2.91% to 7,874.42, KOSPI dropped 74.43 points or 1.46% to 5,089.14, Straits Times fell 30.95 points or 0.62% to 4,944.92, Taiwan Weighted lost 18.35 points or 0.06% to 31,782.92 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.34 points or 0.25% to 4,065.58. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 365.96 points or 0.68% to 54,184.00.