Nifty trades tad below 24,600 level; European mrkt advance

The key equity benchmarks traded with major cuts in the afternoon trade as sentiment remained unsettled amid escalating hostilities between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, fueling fears of a deeper energy supply shock, higher crude prices, renewed inflationary pressures, and a clouded global growth outlook. The Nifty traded tad below the 24,600 level.

At 13:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 587.19 points or 0.73% to 79,428.71. The Nifty 50 index fell 175.85 points or 0.71% to 24,597.30.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.04% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.23%.

 

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,045 shares rose and 1,995 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.99% to 18.93.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Sedemac Mechatronics received bids for 50,56,909 shares as against 56,32,899 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 13:25 IST on Friday (6 March 2026). The issue was subscribed 0.90 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.

Gainers & Losers:

Bharat Electronics (up 2.64%), Reliance Industries (up 2.01%), NTPC (up 1.71%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 1.19%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

ICICI Bank (down 2.51%), InterGlobe Aviation (down 2.11%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.97%), Eternal (down 2.08%) and HDFC Life Insurance Company (down 1.99%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders surged 5.11% after the company clarified developments related to media reports suggesting it could be part of a defence deal worth around Rs 99,000 crore.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) added 5.05% after the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kalyani Strategic Systems (KSSL) to develop Indias indigenous naval systems and unmanned maritime platforms.

NMDC rallied 2.46% 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 1.78%. 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.

Fractal Analytics surged 5.30% 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.

Global Markets:

European equities opened higher on Friday, as investors monitored upcoming economic data, including German factory orders, U.K. house prices, and eurozone GDP figures. German airline Lufthansa is also set to report earnings.

Asian markets traded mixed, tracking Wall Street losses overnight as the Iran conflict pushed energy prices higher.

On the commodity exchanges, oil prices broke through the $80 per barrel mark, with Brent futures last trading at $84.17.

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 Trumps 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 Trumps 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 784.67 points, or 1.61%, to 47,954.74. The S&P 500 fell 0.56% to 6,830.71, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.26% to 22,748.99.

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