Indian markets continued to reel under selling pressure in early afternoon session following a weak cues from other Asian markets. There were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. Investors were concerned about the outlook for inflation amidst escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Traders took a note of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest report stating that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined by 35.88% to $2,758.90 million in February 2026 as against $4,302.70 million in February 2025, impacted by fall in equity investments. Meanwhile, traders overlooked the Income Tax Department’s latest data showing that the net direct tax collection grew 7.1 per cent to about Rs 22.8 lakh crore till March 17 this fiscal (FY26) due to slower refunds and higher corporate tax mop-up. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower after tensions in the Middle East intensified as strikes on the UAE’s energy infrastructure spooked concerns over long-term supply outages.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75026.42, down by 1677.71 points or 2.19% after trading in a range of 74685.52 and 75354.18. There was 1 stock advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 3.14%, Auto down by 3.02%, Consumer Discretionary down by 2.67%, Consumer Durables down by 2.60% and IT was down by 2.56%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The only gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid was up by 0.07%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 5.17%, Larsen & Toubro down by 4.26%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.16%, HDFC Bank down by 3.42% and Bajaj Finserv was down by 3.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid global economic and geopolitical challenges, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined by 35.88% to $2,758.90 million in February 2026 as against $4,302.70 million in February 2025, impacted by fall in equity investments. 

According to the report, equity commitments decreased 57.52% to $1,107.67 million in February 2026, from $2,607.79 million in February 2025. They were also 35.16% lower than $1,708.22 million equity commitments recorded in January 2026.

The report further noted that loan commitments stood at $714.30 million in February 2026, 11.05% down from $803.07 million in February 2025. Guarantees issued increased 5.06% to $936.92 million in February 2026 from $891.83 million in February 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23245.95, down by 531.85 points or 2.24% after trading in a range of 23180.95 and 23378.70. There were 2 stocks advancing against 48 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.34% and Coal India up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 5.73%, Eternal down by 5.24%, Larsen & Toubro down by 4.32%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.22% and Tata Motors Passenger down by 3.62% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 2067.4 points or 3.89% to 53,172.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 658.9 points or 1.96% to 33,689.68, Hang Seng declined 545.42 points or 2.1% to 25,480.00, KOSPI dropped 161.81 points or 2.81% to 5,763.22, Shanghai Composite weakened 56.43 points or 1.39% to 4,006.55 and Straits Times was down by 31.7 points or 0.63% to 4,970.47.