The key equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Friday, after a day's breather, as the conflict in West Asia entered its seventh day, pushing crude oil prices higher. Continued foreign fund outflows further weighed on investor sentiment. The Nifty settled near the 24,450 mark, dragged down by losses in banking stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,097 points or 1.37% to 78,918.90. The Nifty 50 index tanked 315.45 points or 1.27% to 24,450.45.

ICICI Bank (down 3.13%), State Bank of India (down 2.54%) and HDFC Bank (down 2.34%) were major Nifty drags today.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 1.07% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index declined 0.67%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,895 shares rose and 2,304 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 11.32% to 19.88.

Numbers To Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.90% to 6.698 compared with previous session close of 6.638.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 91.7275 compared with its close of 91.6450 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement shed 0.01% to Rs 159,650.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.19% to 99.23.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.48% to 4.168.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2026 settlement rose $1.94 or 2.27% to $87.35 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones index futures are currently down by 82 points, signaling a negative opening for US stocks today.

European indices declined on Friday as Middle East conflict kept markets on edge.

The seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU in fourth quarter of 2025, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the third quarter of 2025, GDP had increased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU.

Asian indices ended higher despite overnight losses on Wall Street as the Iran conflict pushed energy prices higher. More uncertainty was also seen on the global trade front after New York Attorney General Letitia James and the top prosecutors of 23 other states once again sued to block President Donald Trump's global tariff regime. This comes after the U.S. Court of International Trade had ruled on Thursday that companies were entitled to tariff refunds from Trump's duties that were struck down by the Supreme Court.

On Wall Street, stocks resumed their decline Thursday after a one-day respite as concerns over the Iran war flared up again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.61%, the S&P 500 fell 0.56%, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.26%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries advanced 1.11% on anticipation that the company might gain from escalating crude oil prices in light of the current Iran conflict and disturbances in the Strait of Hormuz.

Shares of Ircon International (up 9.75%) and Rail Vikas Nigam (up 2.07%) rallied after media reports suggested that the Ministry of Railways has proposed a merger between the two companies. However, both companies denied media reports of a proposed merger.

Shares of alcoholic beverage companies advanced after the Karnataka government announced a major overhaul of its liquor policy, which is expected to ease long-standing pricing restrictions in the state. While presenting the state Budget for 2026, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed replacing the existing taxation framework'where liquor was taxed based on global benchmarks'with a system that taxes beverages according to their actual alcohol content. The transition to the alcohol-in-beverage (AIB) based structure will be implemented in phases over the next three to four years, with the revised framework scheduled to take effect from April 2026.

Among the gainers, Som Distilleries and Breweries rose 4.27%, United Spirits climbed 4.61%, Allied Blenders and Distillers advanced 5.07%, Tilaknagar Industries gained 5.58%, United Breweries added 5.43% and Radico Khaitan jumped 8.43%.

Fractal Analytics surged 5.32% after the company reported 10.6% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 102.60 crore on 20.8% increase in net sales 854.40 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Aye Finance rose 0.52%. The company's standalone net profit surged 87.09% to Rs 42.60 crore on 22.66% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 442.78 crore in Q3 December 2025 over Q3 December 2024.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) added 5.09% after the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kalyani Strategic Systems (KSSL) to develop India's indigenous naval systems and unmanned maritime platforms.

NMDC rose 1.57% after the company announced a price hike for Baila Lump iron ore (65.5%, 10-40MM) and Baila Fines (64%, -10 mm), with revised rates effective from 6 March 2026.

Angel One fell 2.27%. The company announced that its client base jumped 20.8% year-on-year (YoY) to 36.93 million in February 2026, compared with 30.58 million in February 2025.

Rajesh Power Services advanced 1.46% after its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rajesh Power Projects, signed a Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL). The project involves developing a 65 MW / 130 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System at Virpore, Gujarat. The agreement sets a 12-year operational framework at a contracted tariff of Rs 1.89 lakh per MW per month and marks Rajesh Power's formal entry into the utility-scale battery energy storage segment.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Sedemac Mechatronics received bids for 1,50,96,411 shares as against 56,32,899 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:39 IST on Friday (6 March 2026). The issue was subscribed 2.68 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 4 March 2026 and it will close on 6 March 2026. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 1,287 and 1,357 per share.

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