Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, tracking a rebound in global equities, after facing heavy losses in the past few trading sessions due to the conflict in West Asia. Traders took a note of an external member of the RBI's rate-setting panel Nagesh Kumar’s statement that conflict in the Middle East poses some immediate-term challenges for the Indian economy but is unlikely to dent long-term economic growth momentum. He said going forward, there is a need for fiscal and monetary policies to work in a coordinated manner to push GDP growth to a higher trajectory. Sector-wise, auto stocks remained in watch as the Federation ‌of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said India’s retail vehicle sales ‌rose 25.6% ⁠in ⁠February on strong demand for two-wheelers ⁠and passenger ‌vehicles. On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as oil prices paused their rapid climb following reports that Iranian intelligence has quietly conveyed to the United States that Tehran may be open to discussions on ending the war.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79521.46, up by 405.27 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 79217.14 and 79666.46. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.41%, Energy up by 2.06%, Utilities up by 2.02%, Oil & Gas up by 1.78% and Power up by 1.73%, while IT down by 1.08%, FMCG down by 0.52% and TECK down by 0.46% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.09%, Tata Steel up by 2.82%, Reliance Industries up by 2.56%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.47% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.21%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.62%, Eternal down by 1.41%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.29%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.22% and TCS down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it will conduct switch auction of government securities worth Rs 20,000 crore on March 9, 2026. RBI stated the auction will be held from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. The results will be declared the same day and settlement will take place on March 10, 2026.

The switch operation is likely to ease redemption pressure in the next financial year, when government bond maturities worth Rs 5.47 lakh crore are due. This is the fourth switch auction announced by the RBI since February.

Prior to this, the RBI had carried out three switch auctions and bought back securities worth Rs 98,591.701 crore. In a bond switch, the government replaces bonds maturing in the near term with long- term instruments. With gross market borrowing already budgeted at Rs 17.2 lakh crore, the move supports a more balanced maturity profile and facilitates better repayment management.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24627.70, up by 147.20 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 24530.05 and 24656.70. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 6.49%, Coal India up by 3.75%, ONGC up by 3.38%, NTPC up by 3.13% and Tata Steel up by 2.74%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.66%, Eternal down by 1.49%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.30%, TCS down by 1.23% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.17% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 1336.46 points or 2.46% to 55,582.00, Taiwan Weighted added 918.47 points or 2.8% to 33,747.35, Jakarta Composite gained 126.73 points or 1.67% to 7,703.79, Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.65 points or 0.95% to 4,121.12, KOSPI increased 552.90 points or 10.85% to 5,646.44, Hang Seng advanced 274.52 points or 1.09% to 25,524.00 and Straits Times rose 32.84 points or 0.68% to 4,845.59.