Stock Market Today Highlights: ₹3 lk cr lost! Sensex tanks 1098 pts, Nifty below 24,500 as Iran war rages; banks drag

Stock Market LIVE: Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking said:

"Markets traded under pressure on Friday, giving up part of the previous session’s gains amid cautious global sentiment and profit booking in select heavyweights. The Nifty opened on a subdued note and traded dull for most of the session. However, selling pressure in select heavyweights during the final hour pushed the index sharply lower, and it eventually closed near the day’s low at around the 24,450 level.

Sectoral participation largely mirrored the benchmark’s weakness, with banking, realty, and auto stocks emerging as key laggards. Meanwhile, selective buying in energy and IT counters offered some support and helped limit the overall decline. Interestingly, the broader indices showed relative resilience: the smallcap index ended almost unchanged while the midcap index declined by nearly half a percent.

Investor sentiment remained guarded amid lingering geopolitical uncertainties and elevated crude oil prices, which continue to influence global risk appetite. Participants also stayed selective ahead of the weekend, preferring to trim positions following the sharp swings witnessed earlier in the week.

The sharp swings in the Nifty index, combined with elevated volatility, indicate a cautious undertone. A break below the recent swing low of 24,300 could quickly drag the index toward the 24,000 level. Fresh weakness in the banking pack, which carries significant weight in the index, also adds to the negative bias.

However, strength in select sectors and themes such as pharma, metal, PSE, and defense continues to offer buying opportunities on a rotational basis. Given the current setup, we maintain a cautious stance and recommend staying selective while focusing on strict risk management until the market stabilizes."

Stock Market LIVE: Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.:

"Bears returned to the market as the Nifty slipped back after a one-day rebound. Thursday’s bounce was neither wholehearted nor convincing, leading to selling on Friday. Besides, investors preferred to stay light ahead of the weekend.

Technically, the index remains below the previous swing low, indicating continued bearishness. In the short term, the index may continue to decline, with the potential to move towards 24,000 or lower. On the higher side, resistance is placed at 25,000; until this level is crossed decisively, the trend is likely to favor a sell-on-rise strategy."

Sensex ended 1,097.90 points or 1.37% lower at 78,918.90 while the broader Nifty 50 lost 315.45 points or 1.27% to settle at 24,450.45.

Meanwhile, broader markets outperformed with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 index down 0.6% and 0.1%, respectively.

In intra-day deals, Sensex crash 1203.72 points to its day's low of 78,812.18 at the tail end of the market session while Nifty crash 350.15 points to its intra-day low of 24,415.75.

State-owned oil marketing major Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) announced a second interim dividend for the financial year 2025–26 after its board approved the payout at a meeting held on March 6.

According to an exchange filing, the company’s board of directors declared a 20% interim dividend, equivalent to ₹2 per equity share of face value ₹10 each, for FY26. The dividend will be paid to eligible shareholders on or before April 5, 2026. The company also informed exchanges that Thursday, March 12, 2026, has been fixed as the record date to determine which shareholders are eligible to receive the interim dividend.

Sensex crash 1108.37 points to its day's low of 78,907.53 at the tail end of the market session while Nifty crash 320.55 points to its intra-day low of 24,445.35

Stock Market LIVE: European stocks rose while U.S. futures were little changed on Friday as oil prices steadied, though global equities remained on track for their steepest weekly drop in a year as the conflict in the Middle East showed few signs of easing. Europe's STOXX 600 index rose 0.45% in early European trading, with Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.75% and 0.48% respectively.

Futures for the U.S. S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices were unchanged.

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran convulsed global markets this week and left investors seeking the safety of cash, as they sobered up to the fact that the conflict could drag on longer than initially anticipated.

The MSCI all-world stock index was on track to drop 2.6% in the biggest weekly fall since March 2025. (Reuters)

Stock Market LIVE: The Indian government’s delays in formalising changes to listing rules are threatening to force Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, to miss the targeted timeline for an initial public offering of shares in Jio Platforms Ltd., the digital arm of his flagship company Reliance Industries Ltd.

Reliance is waiting for the government to formalize the changes backed by the regulator to appoint bankers formally and file a draft IPO prospectus, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The company is now aiming to file the draft prospectus before April, depending on the government notification, they said. Read more

Stock Market LIVE: Shares of newly listed AI firm Fractal Analytics surged as much as 5.5% to an intraday high of ₹800 on the BSE on Friday after the company reported a consolidated profit after tax of ₹100.1 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.

For the third quarter of FY26, the company recorded consolidated revenue of ₹854.4 crore, registering a 21% year-on-year rise, supported by robust demand from healthcare and banking clients. Fractal also reported adjusted EBITDA of ₹152.1 crore, reflecting a 24% increase on a yearly basis, while EBITDA margins expanded to 17.8%. Gross margin improved to 47.2%, the company said.

Stock Market LIVE: A day after logging strong gains of more than 1% each, domestic market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, resumed their downward March on Friday, March 6, due to profit booking amid persisting concerns over the US-Iran war, crude oil price spike, and heavy foreign capital outflow.

The Senex crashed nearly 700 points, or almost 1%, to an intraday low of 79,323, while the Nifty 50 fell to 24,572 during the session, falling nearly 200 points, or about 1%.

The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slipped to ₹452 lakh crore from ₹453 lakh crore in the previous session, resulting in a loss of ₹1 lakh crore for investors in a single session. Read detailed reasons here

Stock Market LIVE: Aluminium is set to end the week higher on Friday, as war in the Middle East threatened to cut off shipments from the region that produced 8% of the world's supply last year.

The most-active aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended the week up 3.59%, despite a 1.77% decline on Friday to close daytime trading at 24,715 yuan ($3,583.44) a metric ton.

London Metal Exchange's benchmark three-month aluminium added 0.68% to $3,318.50 a ton as of 0730 GMT, poised to add more than 5% for the week. All eyes are on the Middle East, as disruptions started to materialise following force majeures at Norsk Hydro's Qatalum and Aluminium Bahrain. (Reuters)

Stock Market LIVE: Gold prices rose on Friday, rebounding from a more than 1% drop in the previous session, as investors bought safe-haven bullion on heightened uncertainty over a widening Middle East conflict.

Spot gold was up 0.8% at $5,117.27 per ounce, as of 0650 GMT. The metal has lost roughly 3% so far this week and is on course to snap a four-week winning streak on fading interest rate-cut prospects and inflation concerns as global energy prices spike.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery were up 1% at $5,126.70. Spot silver rose 2.4% to $84.12 per ounce. Spot platinum gained nearly 1.4% to $2,150.70, while palladium climbed 2% to $1,662.72.

The dollar weakened, making greenback-priced bullion less expensive for holders of other currencies. (Reuters)

Stock Market LIVE: IRCON International share price jumped over 12%, while Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) share price surged over 6% on Friday despite weak trend on Dalal Street. The rally in these railway stocks came after reports that the government was considering a proposal to merge the two PSU companies.

IRCON International shares rallied as much as 12.13% to ₹150.15 apiece, and RVNL stock price gained 6.58% to ₹298.55 apiece on the BSE.

The Ministry of Railways has moved a formal proposal to merge IRCON International with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), online news portal PSU Connect reported, citing official sources.

Stock Market LIVE: Kotak Institutional Equities has lowered earnings forecasts and target prices for several major Indian IT services companies, cautioning that the fast adoption of generative artificial intelligence could pose risks to the sector’s long-term growth trajectory.

The brokerage revised its earnings per share (EPS) estimates for seven companies and cut their fair value estimates by roughly 15% to 28%.

Kotak now places a target price of ₹3,090 on TCS, reduced from ₹3,675 earlier, while the target for Infosys has been lowered to ₹1,530 from ₹1,900.

Among other Tier-1 IT firms, Wipro’s target price has been cut to ₹190 from ₹240, HCLTech’s to ₹1,425 from ₹1,680, and Tech Mahindra’s to ₹1,615 from ₹2,000.

In the mid-tier segment, Coforge’s target has been revised down to ₹1,620 from ₹2,250, while Persistent Systems’ target has been reduced to ₹4,615 from ₹5,900.

Stock Market LIVE: Vodafone Idea, Filatex Fashions, Tata Silver Exchange Traded Fund, Navkar Urbanstructure, Suzlon Energy, LT Foods, Reliance Power, Tata Gold Exchange Traded Fund, and YES Bank were the most traded stocks, or most active stocks in terms of volume, on the NSE. Jupiter Wagons, Ircon International, Dharan Infra-EPC, IRFC, DCX Systems, Nippon India Silver ETF, NMDC, PC Jeweller, Ola Electric Mobility, Nippon India ETF Gold BEES, and Bharat Electronics (BEL) were also among the most traded stocks on the NSE.

Stock Market LIVE: South Korean defence stock LIG Nex1 Co. surged more than 17% on Friday, March 6, extending its sharp rally since the outbreak of the US-Iran war in the Middle East. LIG Nex1 stock price surged as much as 17.8% to 899,000 KRW on the Korea Exchange.

The defence stock had already rallied 26% in the previous session and jumped nearly 30% on March 3. In five trading sessions, LIG Nex1 shares have skyrocketed 78.7%, taking the company’s market capitalisation near 18 trillion KRW.

The rally in the South Korean defence stock comes amid reports that its air defence systems were used to intercept Iranian missiles launched at the United Arab Emirates, as the Middle East conflict intensified.

Stock Market LIVE: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) share price rose by 2.5% on Friday, March 6, achieving its second day of gains in a row after US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent revealed that the Treasury Department is providing a temporary 30-day exemption for Indian refiners to buy Russian oil. This action was taken as the US aims to stabilize global energy markets in light of escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Calling India a vital ally of the United States, Secretary Bessent mentioned that Washington expects New Delhi to increase its import of American oil. This temporary solution will help ease the strain created by Iran's efforts to hold global energy supplies hostage, believes Secretary Bessent.

Bessent said on X platform, “President Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.”

Stock Market LIVE: Global brokerage Morgan Stanley has turned cautious on Asian equities, including India, amid concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could disrupt supply chains if oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz fail to recover.

The brokerage sees India as the most exposed to potential Qatari liquefied natural gas supply disruptions, therefore downgrading it to equal-weight in their latest reshuffle.

“We stay defensive,” Morgan Stanley strategists, including Daniel Blake and Jonathan Garner, wrote in a note dated March 5, according to a Bloomberg report. “Asia remains critically dependent on Middle Eastern supply of crude oil, refined products and LNG, and we believe the market is too complacent about supply chain risks.”

Stock Market LIVE: Shrikant Chouhan, Head – Equity Research, Kotak Securities said:

“A bullish candle on the daily chart suggests a likely continuation of the pullback formation. For traders, 24,600/79500 and 24,500/79200 would act as key support zones. Above these levels, the market could continue towards 24,950-25,000/80500-80700. On the other hand, below 24,500/79200, sentiment could change. Below this level, the market can again go towards 24300/78600 levels.”

Stock Market LIVE: Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders share price jumped by nearly 9% on Friday, March 6, marking its second consecutive day of gains and totaling around 15% for the week. The stock has surged by 18% over the course of 2 trading sessions.

The stock has been in focus due to the widely reported ₹99,000 crore defense contract with the Indian Navy, which the company has officially confirmed while providing key updates regarding the status of contract negotiations.

The state-owned shipbuilder addressed regulatory inquiries related to recent news that sparked heightened market interest, clarifying the present phase of this substantial defense agreement.

Stock Market LIVE: Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold Indian Information Technology (IT) stocks worth nearly ₹17,000 crore in February amid rising concerns about potential disruption from artificial intelligence (AI) in the sector. The Nifty IT index declined nearly 20% during the month.

The sharp sell-off in IT stocks came even as overall foreign portfolio investment flows into the Indian stock market remained positive. FPIs were net buyers of Indian equities worth ₹22,615 crore in February, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Read more

Stock Market LIVE: Crude oil prices fell in early trading on Friday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would allow a 30-day waiver for Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil stranded at sea, offering temporary relief to global supply concerns.

The move comes as energy markets remain volatile amid escalating tensions in West Asia and supply disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, while giving Indian refiners short-term flexibility to access Russian crude shipments already in transit.

This fall in prices comes after a surge of over 15% since last week. At 8:18 AM, the April contract of the benchmark Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange was trading at $84.21 per barrel, lower by 1.52% from its previous close. Similarly, the West Texas Intermediate on the Intercontinental Exchange fell 2.10% to $79.31 a barrel.

Stock Market LIVE: VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited said:

"As the war continues to rage and uncertainty looms large, markets will be influenced by the crude prices. It is important to understand that even though crude has spiked by about 16% since the war began this is not among the major spikes in crude compared to earlier geopolitical crises which impacted crude. This is a reflection of the potential huge supply of oil available in the global market.

Once the West Asian crisis deescalates, crude prices will dip sharply and markets will bounce back. Therefore, crude price will continue to influence the market in the near-term. So long as Brent crude moves around $85 levels, the market is unlikely to be impacted. On the other hand, if Brent price spikes above $90 and moves towards $100, globally markets will be impacted. Therefore, watch out for crude prices."

Stock Market LIVE: US Treasury yields climbed for a fourth straight day. The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note rose 5 basis points to 4.132% after hitting a three-week high of 4.15%. The yield on the 30-year bond advanced 2.6 bps to 4.743% after touching 4.772%, its highest since February 12. Yields on two-year notes rose as much as 5 bps to 3.60%, the highest since January 28.

Stock Market LIVE: The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield edged higher. The 10-year JGB yield rose 1.5 basis points (bps) to 2.170%. The 20-year JGB yield climbed 1 bp to 2.990%. The 30-year yield was flat at 3.375%. The yield on the 40-year JGB fell 0.5 bps to 3.585%.

Stock Market LIVE: IT stocks jumped on Friday, March 6 in an otherwise falling markets. The Nifty IT index jumped almost 2% as against a 0.6% fall in benchmark Nifty.

Indian stock markets were trading on a weak note, mirroring subdued global market sentiment as the continuing US-Israel-Iran conflict dampens investors’ appetite for risk. Sensex fell over 500 points while Nifty was trading around 24,650.

Among stocks, Persistent Systems was the top gainer, up 3% followed by Mphasis, which added 2%. Meanwhile, Coforge, Oracle, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, LTIMindtree, Wipro, and TCS advanced over 1% each. Infosys was also up 0.8%

Stock Market LIVE: Indian benchmark equity indices, the Sensex and Nifty 50, started Friday’s session on a weaker note, mirroring subdued global market sentiment as the continuing US-Israel-Iran conflict dampens investors’ appetite for risk.

At 9:17 am, Sensex was down 551 points or 0.69% at 79,464.77 while Nifty was down 160 points 0r 0.6% at 24,605.60.

Stock Market LIVE: Nifty 50 index formed a bullish candlestick pattern with shadows in either direction, signaling pullback from an oversold territory after recent sharp decline.

“A long bull candle was formed on the daily chart with a gap up opening. Technically, this market action indicates a formation of a bullish candle pattern like ‘morning star’ - not a classical one. Formation of such a pattern after a reasonable down trend or at the supports indicates possible bottom reversal pattern,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

According to him, the sharp downward correction in the market seems to have reversed on the upside with the formation of short-term bottom reversal pattern on Thursday.

“Further sustainable upmove from here could pull Nifty 50 towards the next resistance of 25,000 in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 24,500,” Shetti said.

Stock Market LIVE: Sensex formed a bullish candle on daily charts, indicating that a pullback formation is likely to continue in the near future.

“For traders, 79,500 and 79,200 would act as key support zones. Above these levels, Sensex could continue its positive momentum up to 80,500 - 80,700. On the flip side, below 79,200, the sentiment could change. Below this level, traders may prefer to exit their long positions,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

Stock Market LIVE: Gold prices steadied after losing more than 1% in the previous session. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $5,093.63 an ounce, while silver price rose 0.3% to $82.47 an ounce.

Stock Market LIVE: Crude oil prices were headed for the biggest weekly surge since 2022 as the war in the Middle East disrupted supplies. Brent crude oil price fell 0.50% to $81.02 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 0.54% to $76.75.

Stock Market LIVE: Iran has intensified attacks throughout the Gulf in retaliation for US and Israeli operations that killed its supreme leader last weekend. In the latest development, an Iranian missile strike ignited a fire at Bahrain’s state-operated oil refinery on Thursday, which was subsequently extinguished.

Stock Market LIVE: US stock market ended sharply lower on Thursday as the Middle East conflict entered its sixth day, pushing oil prices higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 784.67, or 1.61%, to 47,954.74, while the S&P 500 fell 0.56%, to 6,830.71. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.26% lower at 22,748.99.

Nvidia stock price rose 0.16%, AMD shares fell 1.3%, Microsoft share price gained 1.35%, Amazon stock price added 0.98%, while Apple shares dropped 0.85%. Tesla stock price eased 0.09, Southwest Airlines shares plunged 6.9%, Chevron stock price gained 3.9% and Broadcom share price rallied 4.8%.

Stock Market LIVE: Asian equities declined on Friday, placing regional markets on course for their steepest weekly drop in six years, as the prolonged conflict in the Middle East and fresh Iranian strikes triggered a broad risk-off mood among investors. Oil prices, however, moved lower.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 1.1% on Friday, extending its losses to about 7.5% since the conflict began. In the bond market, US Treasuries held on to this week’s declines, while the dollar weakened slightly but remained on track for its strongest weekly performance since 2024. S&P 500 futures were largely unchanged as of 10:21 a.m. Tokyo time.

Across regional markets, Japan’s Topix dropped 0.8%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.1%, and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%.

Stock Market LIVE: Early signals from Gift Nifty also pointed to a soft opening for domestic equities. Gift Nifty was trading near the 24,621 mark, indicating a discount of about 233 points compared with the previous close of Nifty futures.

Stock Market LIVE: Indian benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to start on a weak note on Friday, March 6, following weakness in Asian shares and US stocks as the continuing US-Israel-Iran conflict dampens investors’ appetite for risk. In the previous trading session on Thursday, the Indian stock market had ended in positive territory as investors engaged in short-covering following three consecutive sessions of steep declines. The recovery helped the benchmark Nifty 50 move back above the 24,700 level.

The BSE Sensex climbed 899.71 points, or 1.14%, to settle at 80,015.90. Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 advanced 285.40 points, or 1.17%, to close at 24,765.90.