Benchmarks continued to trade lower in late afternoon session as crude oil traded near the $100 per barrel mark amid conflict in West Asia. Besides, persistent foreign capital outflows kept the investors on edge. The foreign institutional investors were the net sellers on Thursday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore. Further, traders took a cautious approach amid a weaker rupee. The Indian rupee has weakened by 18 paise to trade at 92.43 against the US dollar. On the global front, all European and Asian equity markets were trading lower as high crude oil prices fuelled inflation worries and reduced expectations of near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74846.86, down by 1187.56 points or 1.56% after trading in a range of 74454.60 and 75576.20. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 4.19%, Industrials down by 3.61%, Basic Materials down by 3.50%, Auto down by 3.29% and Capital Goods down by 2.56%. Meanwhile, there were no gainers on BSE sectoral index.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.37% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 6.59%, Tata Steel down by 4.24%, Ultratech Cement down by 3.98%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.73% and Bharat Electronics down by 3.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has said that domestic passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches from factories to company dealers rose to 4,17,705 units in February 2026, up 10.6 per cent from 3,77,689 units in the same month last year, as positive market sentiments continued but the escalating war in West Asia remains a concern as it could impact manufacturing and exports. 

SIAM said utility vehicles (UVs) segment was the primary driver of growth, rising 13.5 per cent to 2,36,957 units in February as compared to 2,08,795 units in the year-ago period. Passenger car dispatches witnessed a decline of 3.8 per cent to 1,06,799 units in February as compared to 1,10,966 units in February last year. Sales of vans in the domestic market saw a marginal increase of 1.1%, reaching 11,620 units in February 2026 from 11,493 units in February 2025. 

It said two-wheeler dispatches also experienced a strong surge, rising 35.2 per cent to 18,71,406 units in February 2026 as against 13,84,605 units in February last year. Motorcycle sales in February 2026 were up 30.8 per cent at 10,96,537 units as against 8,38,250 units in the year-ago month. Similarly, scooter sales rose 42.3 per cent at 7,29,774 units in February as compared to 5,12,783 units in the same period last year. Three-wheeler dispatches to dealers were up 29 per cent in February at 74,573 units as against 57,788 units in the year-ago period.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23235.50, down by 403.65 points or 1.71% after trading in a range of 23112.00 and 23492.40. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.26%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.51% and Apollo Hospital Enterprises up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 6.58%, Hindalco down by 5.71%, Tata Steel down by 4.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 4.14% and JSW Steel down by 3.81% were the top losers.

All Asian equity markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 678.96 points or 1.26% to 53,774.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 181.54 points or 0.54% to 33,400.32, Hang Seng declined 275.76 points or 1.08% to 25,441.00, KOSPI dropped 96.01 points or 1.75% to 5,487.24, Straits Times fell 18.04 points or 0.37% to 4,837.29, Jakarta Composite plunged 216.05 points or 3.02% to 7,146.07 and Shanghai Composite weakened 32.94 points or 0.8% to 4,096.16.

All European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 51.76 points or 0.5% to 10,253.39, France’s CAC fell 72.14 points or 0.9% to 7,912.30 and Germany’s DAX lost 184.35 points or 0.78% to 23,405.30.