Indian equity benchmarks, after starting the trading day in deep red, bounced back and pared all of their losses to end Thursday’s session in the positive territory on strong value buying in IT, TECK and Realty shares. Earlier in the day, markets witnessed a sharp decline after US President Donald Trump said the United States would continue to attack Iran, including energy and oil targets over the next few weeks, and did not commit to a specific timeline to end the war.    

Some of the important factors in trade: 

Crisil flags moderation in banks' credit growth in FY27 amid West Asia conflict: Domestic rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that banks' credit growth is likely to moderate marginally in the current financial year (FY27) and delinquencies would rise amid uncertainties stemming from the ongoing West Asia conflict.  

External headwinds drag India's manufacturing PMI to 53.9 in March: According to the survey report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.9 in March from 56.9 in February, marking its lowest level since June 2022. 

RBI comes out with additional measures for ADs amid sharp depreciation of rupee: After reviewing evolving market conditions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with further measures aimed at authorised dealers (ADs) in response to the sharp depreciation of the rupee. The measures are effective immediately. 

Cement industry’s stocks remain in watch: The rating agency - ICRA in its report has said that the cement industry is likely to grow by 7-8% in the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), supported by sustained demand from housing and infrastructure sectors. 

Global front: European markets were trading lower as concerns about growth and inflation resurfaced after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more strikes on Iran in the event of Tehran rejecting a deal. Asian markets settled lower as hopes for a potential end to the Middle East conflict faded. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 185.23 points or 0.25% to 73,319.55 and the CNX Nifty was up by 33.70 points or 0.15% to 22,713.10. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 73,568.54 and 71,545.81, respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.42%, TECK up by 1.71%, Realty up by 1.19%, Telecom up by 0.36% and Metal up by 0.35%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.87%, Oil & Gas down by 0.76%, Healthcare down by 0.75%, Energy down by 0.68% and Auto down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 3.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.67%, Infosys up by 1.90%, TCS up by 1.80% and HDFC Bank up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.46%, Eternal down by 2.13%, Sun Pharma down by 1.70%, NTPC down by 1.33% and Reliance Industries down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India manufacturing sector growth eased in the month of March 2026, amid market uncertainty and the war in the Middle East which led to softer increases in new orders and output. According to the survey report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.9 in March from 56.9 in February, marking its lowest level since June 2022.

On the inflation front, the report said input prices increased to the greatest extent in over three-and-a-half years, with higher prices of aluminium, chemicals, fuel, jute, leather, fabric, oil, rubber and steel. Despite the intensification in cost pressures, there was a slower increase in factory gate charges. The rate of output price inflation receded to a two-year low, curbed by customer-retention efforts and attempts to secure new clients at some firms.

The report further noted that Indian manufacturers recorded their strongest growth in export orders since last September, driven by increased demand from markets such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Turkey, and Vietnam. Alongside this surge in external sales, firms expanded their workforce at the greatest extent in seven months and became more optimistic towards the year-ahead outlook for production.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 22,782.30 and 22,182.55, respectively. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 3.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.46%, Tata Consumer Product up by 2.06%, Wipro up by 1.89% and Infosys up by 1.71%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.49%, Eicher Motors down by 2.42%, Sun Pharma down by 2.11%, Eternal down by 1.92% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.75% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 20.84 points or 0.2% to 10,343.95, France’s CAC fell 90.27 points or 1.13% to 7,891.00 and Germany’s DAX lost 483.89 points or 2.08% to 22,815.00. 

Asian markets settled lower on Thursday as hopes for a potential end to the Middle East conflict faded following US President Donald Trump’s prime-time address where the President discussed ongoing military actions in Iran. Trump stated that US military strategic goals in Iran were nearing completion, and threatened to hit Iran extremely hard over the next two to three weeks without giving details as to when the conflict would end. South Korean shares dropped after data showed South Korea's consumer prices rose 2.2% in March, exceeded the Bank of Korea's 2% target. South Korean President Lee Jae ⁠Myung urged parliament to promptly ‌pass a 26.2 trillion won ($17.3 billion) supplementary budget to ⁠shore up the ⁠economy during the worst ⁠energy security ⁠threat ⁠caused by the Middle East crisis. Japanese shares declined despite Wall Street’s gains overnight.