Indian equity benchmarks witnessed heavy selling and ended with significant losses on Monday, ahead of the Nifty F&O contracts’ expiry. Markets made a gap-down start and extended losses, as investor’s sentiments remained fragile after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that the US-Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks. However, in the final hours of trade, the benchmarks pared some losses amid bargain hunting by traders. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Foreign fund outflows: Some cautiousness came in amid foreign fund outflows as Foreign Institution Investors pulled out money from Indian markets, as they were sellers of equities worth Rs 7,536.36 crore on Friday.

HSBC India Manufacturing PMI Rises to 56.9 in February: Traders overlooked the report that the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surged to 56.9 in February from 55.4 in January, indicating a stronger improvement in the health of the sector.

India’s economy grows 7.8 % in Q3 of FY26: Traders largely ignored the government data showing that that India's economy grew by 7.8% during the Q3 of FY26, up from 7.4% in the corresponding quarter of previous year, under the new series of national accounts with 2022-23 as the base year.

On the global front: European equity markets traded in the red, while Asian markets ended mostly lower, as investors remained cautious amid concerns over the fallout from hostilities involving the U.S. and Israel against Iran over the weekend.

The BSE Sensex ended at 80238.85, down by 1048.34 points or 1.29% after trading in a range of 78543.73 and 80632.55. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 0.14%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.30%, Auto down by 2.23%, Consumer Discretionary down by 2.16%, Oil & Gas down by 2.15% and Industrials down by 2.14% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The few gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.09%, Sun Pharma up by 0.82% and ITC up by 0.38%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 6.25%, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.00%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 3.42%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.20% and Asian Paints down by 2.89% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has showed that India's domestic air passenger traffic grew 4.36 per cent year-on-year to 152.49 lakh in January 2026 as compared to 146.11 lakh passengers in the year-ago period. 

IndiGo has regained its dominant position with a 63.6 per cent market share, carrying 97.04 lakh passengers during the reporting month, after significant December 2025 disruptions caused by new pilot duty (FDTL) norms. In contrast, Air India Group lost nearly 3 per cent market share at 26.5 per cent (40.34-lakh passengers) sequentially in January.

In terms of passenger load factor, Akasa Air recorded the highest seat factor at 93.2 per cent during January 2026, while IndiGo had the second-best at 87.7 per cent during the reporting month. Besides, the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of January 2026 was seen 1.44 per cent while IndiGo delivered the best On-time performance at 70.9 per cent from six key metro airports, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, during the month under review.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24865.70, down by 312.95 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 24603.50 and 24989.35. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.08%, Hindalco up by 1.65%, ONGC up by 0.89%, Sun Pharma up by 0.89% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 6.36%, Larsen & Toubro down by 4.95%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 3.33%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.16% and Tata Motors Passenger down by 3.15% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; Germany’s DAX lost 360.66 points or 1.45% to 24,923.60, France’s CAC fell 121.15 points or 1.43% to 8,459.60 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 74.47 points or 0.69% to 10,836.08.