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Key gauges end with deep losses amid geopolitical tensions
Mar-19-2026

Snapping a three-day winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks plummeted by over 3% on Thursday as a sharp jump in crude oil prices and weak global trends, amid escalating strikes on energy infrastructure in West Asia, unnerved investors. Additionally, some cautiousness came from foreign portfolio investors, who recorded net sales of equities worth Rs 2,714.35 crore on Wednesday.   

Some of the important factors in trade:      

Net direct tax collection grows 7.1% to Rs 22.8 lakh crore till March 17 in FY26: Income Tax Department in its latest data has showed that the net direct tax collection grew 7.1% to about Rs 22.8 lakh crore till March 17 this fiscal (FY26) due to slower refunds and higher corporate tax mop-up. 

India’s outward FDI commitments see 35.88% dip in February: Amid global economic and geopolitical challenges, the RBI in its latest report has showed that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined by 35.88% to $2,758.90 million in February 2026 as against $4,302.70 million in February 2025, impacted by fall in equity investments. 

RBI to inject Rs 75,000 crore in banking system through VRR auction: Amid the current and evolving liquidity conditions of the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is all set to inject Rs 75,000 crore worth of liquidity in the banking system. It will conduct a three-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction on March 20. 

Cabinet approves Small Hydro Power Development Scheme: In a significant boost to India's clean energy transition, the Union Cabinet has approved the Small Hydro Power (SHP) Development Scheme for the period FY27 to FY31, with a financial outlay of Rs 2584.60 crore. 

Global front: European markets were trading lower as escalation in tensions in the West Asia pushed up oil prices, triggering inflation concerns. Asian markets settled lower as the U.S. Federal Reserve held its key policy rate steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, with Chair Jerome Powell dimming down rate-cut expectations, saying that inflation was not coming down as much as ‘hoped’, and escalating attacks on Persian Gulf oil-and-gas infrastructure sent oil prices soaring. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 2496.89 points or 3.26% to 74,207.24 and the CNX Nifty was down by 775.65 points or 3.26% to 23,002.15.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 75,354.18 and 73,950.95 respectively. All the 30 stocks were declining on the index.  

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto down by 4.07%, Realty down by 3.79%, Consumer Discretionary down by 3.62%, Industrials down by 3.49% and IT down by 3.41%, while there was no gaining sectoral index on the BSE. 

The top losers on the Sensex were Eternal down by 5.65%, Bajaj Finance down by 5.42%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.25%, HDFC Bank down by 5.13% and Larsen & Toubro down by 4.72%, while there was no gainer on the Sensex. 

Meanwhile, Income Tax Department in its latest data has showed that the net direct tax collection grew 7.1% to about Rs 22.8 lakh crore till March 17 this fiscal (FY26) due to slower refunds and higher corporate tax mop-up. Besides, net corporate tax collection grew by about 13% to Rs 9.68 lakh crore, and taxes from non-corporates, including individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), increased 3% to around Rs 11.32 lakh crore. Securities Transaction Tax collection stood at Rs 55,717 crore between April 1, 2025, and March 17, 2026, against Rs 53,095 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, registering a rise of 5%. Tax refund issuance declined by 6 per cent to Rs 4.34 lakh crore during the period.

The department said the advance tax collection rose by 6.4% to Rs 11.13 lakh crore in four tranches. The last tranche of advance tax collection closed on March 15. There was a degrowth of 1.78% in advance tax collection in the non-corporate segment to Rs 2.83 lakh crore till March 17, 2026, compared to Rs 2.88 lakh crore during the same period of the previous financial year.

As regards corporate tax, it grew by 9.5% to Rs 8.29 lakh crore from Rs 7.57 lakh crore as of March 17, 2025. Gross direct tax collection increased 4.8% to Rs 27.15 lakh crore till March 17 of this fiscal. This includes gross corporate tax and non-corporate tax mop-up of Rs 13.47 lakh crore and Rs 13.11 lakh crore, respectively. In the Revised Estimates (RE) for the current fiscal (2025-26), the government has projected its direct tax collection at Rs 24.84 lakh crore.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 23,378.70 and 22,930.35 respectively. There was 1 stock advancing against 49 stocks declining on the index.   

The lone gainer on Nifty was ONGC up by 1.55%, while Shriram Finance down by 6.71%, Eternal down by 5.38%, HDFC Bank down by 5.11%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.93% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.82% were the top losers.  

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 199.03 points or 1.93% to 10,106.26, France’s CAC fell 132.88 points or 1.67% to 7,837.00 and Germany’s DAX lost 541.25 points or 2.3% to 22,961.00. 

Asian markets settled lower on Thursday tracking Wall Steet’s fall overnight as rising oil prices following attacks on key energy infrastructure in the Middle East rekindled inflation concerns. Hotter-than-expected US producer prices and the US Fed's higher inflation projections have significantly diminished market expectations for near-term interest rate cuts. Japanese shares declined after the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.75%, as widely expected. Although, Bank of Japan policy board member Hajime Takata has repeatedly called for interest rate hikes to prevent an inflation overshoot. However, China is considering releasing its significant strategic oil reserves to ease the impact of Middle East disruptions, with refiners expected to process up to 1 million barrels per day over the next 4 to 6 weeks. Indonesian market was closed for Hindu Saka New Year holidays and will resume on March 25.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,006.55

-56.43

-1.39

Hang Seng

25,500.58

-524.84

-2.02

Jakarta Composite

--

--

--

KLSE Composite

1,720.71

-9.10

-0.53

Nikkei 225

53,372.53

-1,866.87

-3.38

Straits Times

4,967.61

-34.56

-0.69

KOSPI Composite

5,763.22

-161.81

-2.73

Taiwan Weighted

33,689.68

-658.90

-1.92
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