NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on March 20

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Friday, March 20, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad advanced 161 points to 23,215 amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Thursday with SENSEX staging its worst single-day performance since May 18, 2020. Markets came under pressure as crude oil prices surged in international market after Iran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a major escalation in the US-Israeli war and retaliated by vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout ‌the Gulf, firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia, news agency Reuters reported.

SENSEX fell as much as 2,753 points at the day's lowest level and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 22,930 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and Reliance Industries.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note on Friday after US stocks rebounded from day's lowest levels while oil prices eased. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.6%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.23% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3%, Japan's markets were closed on account of holiday.

Wall Street update

Overnight, US stocks rebounded from intraday low levels to end lower on Thursday as wild swings in oil prices kept investors on tenterhooks.

Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.44%lower after falling as much as 1.06% during the session. S&P 500 index declined 0.27% and tech heavy Nasdaq fell 0.3%.

Iran war update

The conflict has killed thousands of people, spread to neighbouring nations and hit the global economy since the United States and Israel launched strikes ‌on February 28, after talks about Tehran's nuclear program failed to yield a deal, the report added.

Amid tensons in the Middle East, crude oil prices were trading in a band of $105-$107 per barrel after surging to $119 per barrel on Thursday.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹7,558.19 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹3,864 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹77,214 crore compared with shares worth ₹22,615 bought by them in February, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

India's largest telecom company Jio added 24.37 lakh mobile users in January, pushing its total wireless subscriber tally to 49.14 crore.

Notably, Bharti Airtel recorded substantial gains during the month, adding 44.06 lakh wireless users, as its subscriber base rose to 46.77 crore in January.

Airtel's subscriber base stood at 46.33 crore in December 2025, data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed.

On March 18, 2026, ICICI Bank has received an order under Section 74 of the Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, from the Additional Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Mumbai East Commissionerate, raising a Goods and Services Tax (GST) demand of ₹384,33,53,972 and an equivalent amount of penalty and interest as applicable on services provided by the bank to customers maintaining specified minimum balances in their accounts, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The new facility will initially seat 150 employees, with the flexibility to scale up to 500 seats based on client demand, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The GIFT City hub will support the delivery of advanced solutions across digital banking, capital markets, regulatory technology, risk and compliance, and core platform modernisation.

Trade setup

For the index to claw back above 23,500, a weekly closing above 23,000 could provide much-needed relief from the sell-off pain. However, a closing below the 23,000, could open the gates for 22,000 levels, which is also the weekly 200 EMA.

The crude oil prices witnessed a sharp fall from the intraday top level of $119 per barrel to close near $107 per barrel on Thursday. The fall was driven by positive commentary from President Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister on ending the conflict sooner rather than later.

On the options data front, the 23,000 puts hold the highest open interest level, indicating a strong and crucial support level for the NIFTY50. Similarly, the 24,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a long-term resistance for the index.