Benchmarks have magnified their losses in late morning deals with Sensex and Nifty were trading with cut of over 2% each, as the Middle East conflict entered its fourth week driving crude oil prices higher. Also, relentless foreign fund outflows made investors jittery. According to exchange data, foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,518.39 crore on March 20. Traders were cautious as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that Indian companies are facing disruptions ranging from shipment delays to shortages of key raw materials due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, and highlighted growing stress across sectors dependent on global trade flows. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. With the conflict now in its fourth week and showing no sign of ending, the head of the International Energy Agency warned of the worst global energy crisis in decades and said the world economy was under ‘major threat’ from the crisis.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72787.97, down by 1744.99 points or 2.34% after trading in a range of 72628.35 and 73732.58. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods down by 4.49%, Metal down by 4.42%, Realty down by 4.34%, Consumer Durables down by 4.24% and Industrials down by 4.20%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.42%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.83%, Power Grid up by 0.59% and TCS up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 5.47%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.85%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.50%, Trent down by 4.48% and Tata Steel down by 4.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that eight key infrastructure sectors’ output slowed to a three-month low of 2.3 per cent in February 2026 as compared to 3.4 per cent in the same month last year (February 2025). The slowdown in eight sectors’ growth was due to a contraction in the output of crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products. During April-February period of this fiscal year (FY26), the cumulative production growth in the infrastructure sector was 2.9 per cent compared to 4.4 per cent in the same period of the last financial year.

Crude Oil production having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 5.2 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 2.5 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight declined by 5.0 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 3.5 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight declined by 1.0 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 0.1 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.

On the other hand, Coal production having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 2.3 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index has remained unchanged at 185.8 during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 3.4 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 2.0 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 7.2 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 9.7 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Cement production having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 9.3 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 9.2 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 0.5 per cent in February, 2026 over February, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 0.9 per cent during April to February, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22554.75, down by 559.75 points or 2.42% after trading in a range of 22504.15 and 22851.70. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 1.24%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.61%, Power Grid up by 0.60%, ONGC up by 0.57% and TCS up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 5.88%, Interglobe Aviation down by 5.56%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.89%, JSW Steel down by 4.81% and Adani Enterprises down by 4.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1969.53 points or 3.69% to 51,403.00, Hang Seng declined 960.32 points or 3.8% to 24,317.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 786.81 points or 2.4% to 32,757.07, KOSPI dropped 363.60 points or 6.71% to 5,417.60, Shanghai Composite weakened 125.55 points or 3.17% to 3,831.50 and Straits Times fell 112.49 points or 2.27% to 4,836.38.