Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Friday recovering after witnessing intense selling pressure in previous sessions, as traders opted to buy stocks at lower levels. Gains were primarily led by IT, metal and pharma stocks. Markets made an optimistic start, as crude oil prices eased over Israel PM's comments, raising hopes of de-escalation of the Middle East conflict. However, gains were limited as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained sellers, offloading equities worth over Rs 7,558 crore on March 19.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India-UK FTA to be implemented by early May: Some support came with report that the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, signed in July last year, is likely to be implemented by early May, as both sides are sorting out a few issues.

India takes coordinated steps to protect maritime trade: Traders took support as Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said that India has taken swift and coordinated measures to safeguard the country’s maritime trade amid the evolving situation in West Asia.

RBI working to provide avenues for usage of INR accumulated by Russian counterparts: Traders took note of chief general manager in RBI's Foreign Exchange Department N Senthil Kumar’s statement that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on providing various avenues for the usage of Indian rupee (INR) accumulated by the Russian trade counterparts.  

On the global front: European equity markets traded in the red amid middle east conflicts and rising oil prices. Asian markets ended mostly in red, as investors remained cautious about the outlook for interest rate cuts amid inflation worries driven by rising oil prices. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 74532.96, up by 325.72 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 74385.04 and 75286.39. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.08%, TECK up by 1.74%, Healthcare up by 1.45%, Metal up by 1.41% and Energy up by 1.03%, while Realty down by 0.92% was only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.23%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.01%, Infosys up by 2.78%, Trent up by 2.60% and Reliance Industries up by 2.11%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.41%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.57%, Interglobe Aviation down by 0.22% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.16% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a bid to support the country's energy transition and surging electricity demand, Union Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal has said that India’s power sector will need massive $2.2 trillion investment over the next two decades. India has set a target of achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2030 and the addition of 97 GW of coal and lignite-based thermal power capacity by 2034-35. India has made a lot of progress in terms of adding power generation capacity, including renewable resources, and distributing.

The secretary said the next phase of growth for India's power sector will depend on the software side, regulatory frameworks, market design, pricing mechanisms, and institutional innovation. He said programmes such as PM-Kusum are already transforming farmers from passive consumers into active producers of energy. However, he said integrating large shares of in-energy requires new approaches, and added that time of day tariff, demand response, flexible generation, and storage solutions will all play critical roles.

He further said India's power sector has undergone a remarkable transformation that offers valuable lessons for stakeholders across the world. He noted that India’s installed power capacity reached 520.51 GW as of January 2026, with the power shortage declining from 4.2% in FY14 to 0.03% till December 2025. Renewable energy has been at the heart of this growth, particularly since 2016, with tariffs falling significantly. He said this progress has not been accidental. It has been driven by deliberate policy design, standardised bidding frameworks, renewable purchase obligations, and visions that have enabled scale while reducing costs. He added that today, India is not only meeting its domestically enabled energy leads, but also emerging as a manufacturing and export hub.   

The CNX Nifty ended at 23114.50, up by 112.35 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 23067.60 and 23345.15. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.42%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.30%, Tata Steel up by 3.29%, Coal India up by 3.07% and Infosys up by 2.88%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.54%, HDFC Bank down by 2.22%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.55%, ONGC down by 1.37% and Shriram Finance down by 1.18% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 38.98 points or 0.39% to 10,024.52, France’s CAC fell 22.87 points or 0.29% to 7,785.00 and Germany’s DAX lost 57.56 points or 0.25% to 22,782.00.

Asian markets settled mostly lower in thin trade on Friday with stock markets in Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia were closed for holiday. Sentiments were muted as worries about inflation, stemming from soaring oil prices, left investors pessimistic about the potential for future interest rate cuts. Further, a cautious undertone prevailed as strikes targeting infrastructure in Iran, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia stoked concerns regarding a prolonged economic impact from the war. However, Kospi Index gained as investor sentiment was bolstered by comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting Israel would refrain from further strikes on Iranian oil fields following a request for restraint from US President Donald Trump.