Indian Equity Markets Face Sharp Decline Amid Global Tensions Indian equity benchmarks plummeted by over 3% on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as a sharp jump in crude oil prices and weak global trends unsettled investors. The BSE Sensex fell 2496.89 points or 3.26% to 74,207.24, while the CNX Nifty dropped 775.65 points or 3.26% to 23,002.15. The market opened with a significant gap down, reflecting sustained selling pressure, as traders opted for short-covering following a sharp decline in the previous session. However, caution lingered amid continued foreign fund outflows, with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloading shares worth Rs 7,558.19 crore on Thursday. The decline was exacerbated by geopolitical tensions in West Asia, where escalating strikes on energy infrastructure heightened concerns. Union Power Minister Manohar Lal assured that India is prepared to meet the projected peak power demand of 270 GW during the summer season. Meanwhile, the government rolled out the RELIEF scheme, a Rs 497 crore initiative to support exporters facing disruptions due to the West Asia conflict. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal highlighted India’s coordinated measures to safeguard maritime trade, ensuring minimal disruption to supply chains. Global markets also weighed on investor sentiment, with the US markets ending lower amid fears of an Iran war and inflation. Asian markets traded mixed on Friday, reacting to the broadly negative cues from Wall Street. The RBI is set to inject Rs 75,000 crore into the banking system through a three-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction on March 20, aiming to stabilize liquidity. Key corporate and economic updates included the likely implementation of the India-UK FTA by early May and the EU deal by year-end.#indian_equity_markets #bse_sensex #cnx_nifty #union_power_minister_manohar_lal #relief_scheme
