Indian markets continued to trade in deep red during early afternoon session with intensifying conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Besides, investors were worried as the sustained surge in oil prices could drive inflation higher. Traders took a note of the report that India's service sector activity continued to expand strongly in February despite a slower rise in new orders along with a pickup in inflation. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI dropped slightly to 58.1 in February from 58.5 in January. Nonetheless, a score above 50.0 indicates expansion. The flash score was 58.4. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower despite Japan's consumer sentiment improved for the second straight month in February to the highest level in nearly seven years. The seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index rose to 40.0 in February from 37.9 in January.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78782.65, down by 1456.20 points or 1.81% after trading in a range of 78443.20 and 79016.30. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 4.64%, Realty down by 4.27%, Basic Materials down by 3.85%, Industrials down by 3.65% and Auto was down by 3.14%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.00% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 7.49%, Larsen & Toubro down by 6.22%, Ultratech Cement down by 4.83%, Interglobe Aviation down by 4.45% and Maruti Suzuki down by 3.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that profitability of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) specialising in gold loans is likely to remain healthy at 4.25-4.5 per cent in this fiscal (FY26) and next (FY27), supported by strong demand, improving operating leverage and low credit losses despite increasing competition from banks and diversified NBFCs.  

The report said assets under management (AUM) of NBFCs focused on gold loans is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 40 per cent between the current and next fiscal year, significantly outpacing branch additions and boosting productivity. In the first nine months of FY26, branch productivity for these entities rose about 30 per cent. Average AUM per branch for large gold-loan NBFCs increased to about Rs 21 crore, while for mid-sized peers it rose to around Rs 11.5 crore.   

The report attributed a large part of this growth to the sharp increase in the gold prices over the past year. Additionally, it said shift in demand away from unsecured credit to gold loans, along with recent regulatory developments affording higher loan-to-value norms and flexibility on branch network expansion, is expected to further support growth prospect.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24375.80, down by 489.90 points or 1.97% after trading in a range of 24305.40 and 24476.95. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.02%, Infosys up by 0.95% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 7.49%, Larsen & Toubro down by 6.21%, JSW Steel down by 5.23%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 5.21% and Ultratech Cement down by 4.88% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Shanghai Composite weakened 39.49 points or 0.96% to 4,083.19, Straits Times fell 130.99 points or 2.74% to 4,785.66, Jakarta Composite plunged 358.67 points or 4.73% to 7,581.10, KOSPI dropped 698.37 points or 13.71% to 5,093.54, Hang Seng declined 714.08 points or 2.77% to 25,054.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 1494.77 points or 4.55% to 32,828.88 and Nikkei 225 was down by 2206.05 points or 4.08% to 54,073.00.