Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their initial losses and continued their trade below neutral line in morning deals, as surging crude oil prices amid growing uncertainty about the fate of West Asia war dented investors' sentiment. Unabated foreign fund outflows also added to the gloom. However, losses got trimmed as traders found some solace with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that strong fiscal discipline has given India enough flexibility to increase capital expenditure, support sectors affected by the West Asia crisis, and allow the Reserve Bank of India to consider further rate cuts. On the sectoral front, power stocks remained in watch as the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy said India has achieved the highest-ever annual wind energy capacity addition of 6.05 GW in 2025-26, taking cumulative installed capacity to over 56 GW. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as the clock ticks towards a deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73979.47, down by 127.38 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 73282.41 and 74073.71. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.40%, TECK up by 1.20%, Metal up by 1.04%, Realty up by 0.91% and Basic Materials up by 0.33%, while Auto down by 0.98%, Consumer Durables down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.76%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.58% and Oil & Gas down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.35%, Infosys up by 1.32%, TCS up by 1.30%, Sun Pharma up by 1.02% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.81%, Titan Company down by 1.24%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.18%, SBI down by 0.99% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that the limit for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) investing in government securities through the general route will remain unchanged at 6 per cent of the outstanding stocks of securities for 2026-27. Moreover, it said the allocation of incremental changes in the G-Sec limit (in absolute terms) over the two sub-categories -- General and Long-term -- has been retained at 50:50 for 2026-27.

It stated ‘The limits for FPI investment in Government Securities (G-Secs), State Government Securities (SGSs) and corporate bonds shall remain unchanged at 6 per cent, 2 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, of the outstanding stocks of securities for 2026-27 for the General Route’. It noted the overall limit of the notional amount of credit default swaps sold by FPIs will be 5 per cent of the outstanding stock of corporate bonds. 

As a result, an additional limit of Rs 3,30,464 crore is set out for 2026-27. The entire increase in limits for SGSs (in absolute terms) has been added to the 'General' sub-category of SGSs. RBI said ‘As hitherto, all investments by eligible investors in the 'specified securities' shall be reckoned under the Fully Accessible Route (FAR).’ Effective April 01, 2026, all current and future investments under the Voluntary Retention Route will be subject to the investment limits stipulated for FPI investments under the General Route.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22926.45, down by 41.80 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 22719.30 and 22966.60. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.68%, Hindalco up by 2.66%, HCL Technologies up by 2.23%, Infosys up by 1.30% and TCS up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Max Healthcare down by 2.22%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.88%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.38%, Eicher Motors down by 1.35% and Titan Company down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 537 points or 1.65% to 33,109.43, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.55 points or 0.07% to 3,882.65 and KOSPI increased 6.57 points or 0.12% to 5,456.90. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 15.68 points or 0.03% to 53,398.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 25.03 points or 0.36% to 6,964.40 and Straits Times fell 16.68 points or 0.34% to 4,955.72.