Indian equity benchmarks made a gap-down opening on Friday amid uncertainty in the global tariff space and the geopolitical conflict between the United States and Iran. As per a private report, Iran rejected major U.S. proposals, including transferring enriched uranium abroad, halting enrichment, and dismantling certain nuclear sites. Closer home, Sensex and Nifty were trading under pressure with cut of around half a percent each in early deals amid foreign fund outflows. On February 26, Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 3,465.99 crore. Traders also avoided to take risk ahead of India’s GDP data with new base year, to be out later in the day. However, in overall weak market, IT and TECK counters witnessed bargain hunting after recent sell-off.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower, tracking weakness on Wall Street overnight, amid sell-off in technology stocks which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq following concerns about excessive levels of investment across the AI space. Meanwhile, Taiwan is closed for Peace Memorial Day.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81855.65, down by 392.96 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 81845.65 and 82246.17. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.78% and TECK up by 0.15%, while FMCG down by 1.13%, Telecom down by 0.93%, Realty down by 0.86%, Auto down by 0.80% and Basic Materials down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.68%, Infosys up by 1.26%, HCL Technologies up by 1.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.92% and Trent up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.81%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.41%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.36%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.20% and Asian Paints down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to fast-track free trade agreement (FTA) process, the commerce ministry has said that the India and Israel are likely to hold next round of in-person negotiations in May 2026 in Israel. The two sides concluded the first round of four-day talks. Both sides agreed to continue inter-sessional engagements virtually. Both countries are engaged in discussions covering a wide range of areas, including trade in goods and services, rules of origin, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, customs procedures, intellectual property rights, digital trade, and other key chapters.

During the ongoing two-day state visit to Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a special plenary of the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 25, called for early finalisation of an ambitious FTA to realise the untapped trade potential between the two countries. Both sides noted the untapped potential in key sectors, including machinery, chemicals, textiles, agriculture, medical devices, and advanced technologies.

In November 2025, the two countries signed the terms of reference (ToR) to formally start the negotiations for the pact. In such pacts, two sides significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms to promote trade in services and investments. The ToR include market access for goods by eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, investment facilitation, simplification of customs procedures, increasing cooperation for innovation and technology transfer, and easing norms to promote trade in services.

During 2024-25, India's exports to Israel dipped 52 per cent to $2.14 billion from $4.52 billion in 2023-24. Imports, too, fell 26.2 per cent to $1.48 billion last fiscal year. The bilateral trade stood at $3.62 billion. India is Israel's second-largest trading partner in Asia. Though bilateral merchandise trade is dominated mainly by diamonds, petroleum products, and chemicals, recent years have witnessed an increase in trade in areas such as electronic machinery and high-tech products, communications systems, and medical equipment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25364.40, down by 132.15 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 25351.20 and 25476.40. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 1.83%, Infosys up by 1.33%, HCL Technologies up by 0.98%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.92% and Trent up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.64%, Shriram Finance down by 1.59%, Nestle down by 1.57%, Max Healthcare Inst down by 1.45% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 384.70 points or 1.46% to 26,381.02, KOSPI dropped 43.85 points or 0.70% to 6,263.42, Jakarta Composite fell 26.81 points or 0.33% to 8,208.45 and Shanghai Composite weakened 7.10 points or 0.17% to 4,139.53. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 170.27 points or 0.29% to 58,753.39 and Straits Times rose 17.43 points or 0.35% to 4,981.81.