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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026

 

By Arya S. Biju

 

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices closed around 1% lower each, extending losses from the previous session, as oil prices continued to rise amid the widening conflict in West Asia, with reports of several commercial vessels being attacked off Iran's coast. Oil prices continued to rise despite the International Energy Agency's decision to release 400 million barrels of oil from its members' strategic reserves. 

 

The May futures contract of Brent Crude oil surged to a high of nearly $102 a barrel Thursday. However, it came slightly off highs and traded at around $96 per barrel at 1552 IST. Two foreign oil tankers were hit in Iraqi waters, with explosive-laden Iranian boats, according to media reports. This was after unknown projectiles struck four vessels in Gulf waters.  

 

Thursday, the Nifty 50 closed at 23639.15, down 227.70 points or 1%. The BSE Sensex ended at 76034.42, down 829.29 points or 1.1%. Both the indices closed at their lowest level since April and are now 10-12?low their respective all-time highs. Since the conflict between Iran and the US-Israel combine started, the indices have shed around 6?ch. 

 

After opening sharply lower, the indices came off lows and recovered most of their early losses. However, they failed to sustain the levels and slipped sharply towards the end of the session due to profit booking at higher levels, according to technical analysts. "The decline was largely led by weakness in auto, FMCG and select private banking stocks, where profit booking emerged after the recent run-up and concerns around input costs and demand outlook weighed on sentiment," Vikram Kasat, head of advisory, PL Capital said in a note. 

 

Additionally, the Office of the US Trade Representative has issued an investigation notice against India and 15 other nations, alleging unfair trade practice relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors including steel, aluminium, automobiles, batteries, electronics, chemicals, machinery, semiconductors and solar modules. This comes after the US Supreme Court struck down most of the reciprocal tariffs by President Donald Trump last month. 

 

In the broader market, mid-cap indices fell 0.2-0.4%, lower than the 0.4-0.9?ll in their small-cap peers. This was also lower than the around 1?ll in benchmark indices. Most sectoral indices except the Nifty Energy, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Media ended in the red. 

 

Shares of power and energy-linked stocks rose Thursday amid hopes of a demand surge due to an early onset of summer. Shares of renewable energy companies rallied as rising crude oil prices and geopolitical tensions in West Asia strengthened investor interest in alternative energy plays, reports said. "Power, utilities and some oil & gas counters showed relative resilience as investors rotated into defensive and energy-linked plays," Kasat said. 

 

Automobile stocks were the worst hit, with the Nifty Auto closing at its lower level since August. Shares of automobile makers traded lower on expectations of a production hit due to shortage of both liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas amid supply constraints, a senior analyst tracking the sector at a foreign brokerage firm said.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 11 rose and 38 fell, and 1 was unchanged

* Of the Sensex stocks, 6 rose and 24 fell

* On the NSE, 1,237 stocks rose, 1,963 fell, and 102 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,598 stocks rose, 2,645 fell, and 161 were unchanged

* Nifty Auto: down 3.2%; Nifty FMCG: down 1.8%; Nifty Energy: up 1.9%

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BSE                                              NSE

Sensex: 76034.42, down 829.29 points or 1.1%    Nifty 50: 23639.15, down 227.70 points or 1%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 76034.42 (Mar. 12)	: 2026 Closing Low: 23639.15 (Mar. 12)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 75871.18 (Mar. 12)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 23556.30 (Mar. 12)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

 

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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