Stock markets rebound in early trade after sharp fall in previous session

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Friday (March 20, 2026) after facing massive drubbing in the previous session, driven by mild cooling in crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 976.77 points to 75,184.01 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 301.7 points to 23,303.85.

HDFC Bank emerged as the only laggard.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.63 per cent to USD 106.9 per barrel.

“Today there is potential for the market to move up since hope of de-escalation is back. Israel PM’s remarks yesterday indicated that there won’t be further attacks on Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure. This has cooled the Brent crude to USD 106 from the peak of USD 118 yesterday,” V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index were trading higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index quoted lower.

The U.S. market ended in negative territory on Thursday.

“Recent signals from the US and Israel indicating a possible de-escalation in the Iran conflict have brought some relief to global markets. This has led to a mild cooling in crude oil prices and supported a relatively stable opening across Asian indices,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹7,558.19 crore on Thursday (March 19), according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth ₹3,863.96 crore.

On Thursday (March 19), the Sensex tanked 2,496.89 points, or 3.26% — its biggest single-day plunge since June 2024 — to settle at 74,207.24. The Nifty tumbled 775.65 points, or 3.26%, to end at 23,002.15.