NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on March 4

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Wednesday, March 4, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad fell 538 points or 2.15% to 24,445 amid weak cues from global markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply on Monday, March 2, mirroring losses in global markets while crude oil surged as investor sentiment was rattled after United States and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend. The SENSEX dropped as much as 2,743 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,603 on the back of a broad-based selling pressure.

The SENSEX ended 1,048 points lower at 80,239 and NIFTY50 index slumped 313 points or 1.24% to close at 24,866.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading sharply lower on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions in Middle East escalated after media reports suggested that an officer from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said that the Strait of Hormuz had been shut and warned that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway would be targeted.

South Korea's KOSPI crashed 8%, Japan's Nikkei dropped 3.75%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 1.8%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended lower on Tuesday while crude oil priced rose for a second straight session on worries regarding war with Iran.

S&P 500 index dropped 0.94%, Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.83% and tech heavy Nasdaq fell 1%.

Iran war update

Israeli and US forces pounded targets across Iran on Tuesday, prompting Iranian retaliatory strikes around the Gulf as the conflict spread to Lebanon, rattled global markets and sent oil prices sharply higher, news agency Reuters reported.

Four days into the war, US President Donald Trump told reporters that the US military had struck numerous Iranian naval and air targets, saying that "just about everything has been knocked out," the report added.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹3,295.64 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹8,694 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have sold shares worth ₹5,467 crore in March compared with shares worth ₹22,615 bought by them in February, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

On Wednesday, oil prices extended gains with US crude futures up 0.87% to $75.21, while Brent was up 5.43% at $81.96 per barrel amid a widening conflict amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Force majeure means an unforeseen event beyond someone’s control that prevents them from fulfilling a contract.

In simple terms, if something unexpected happens — like a natural disaster, war, government action, or pandemic — and it makes it impossible to meet an agreement, a force majeure clause can protect the affected party from penalties.

This disruption has led to a cut in supplies to the Indian industry by up to 40%, PTI reported.

There were no injuries, and all personnel at the terminal remain safe, it added.

In the early trade on Wednesday, gold fell about 4.5% overnight, and the Aussie dollar slid 0.8% as traders were cashing out of winning bets to cover losses elsewhere in a volatile week. Early in the Asian session, gold steadied at $5,128 an ounce, while U.S. and European futures also tried to stabilise, with S&P 500 futures flat and European futures up 0.8%.

Under the merger plan, the shareholders of SEIL will get 100 fully paid equity shares of face value of ₹1 per share in Grew Energy for every 212 fully paid equity shares of face value of ₹1 each held by them in SEIL, according to a regulatory filing.

A Chiripal group company, Grew Energy, operates a 6.5 GW PV module manufacturing plant in Dudu, Rajasthan, with plans to scale to 11 GW. It is also setting up an 8 GW solar PV cell and ingot-wafer facility in Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh.

SEIL specialises in offering strategic solutions that cater to a diverse range of educational institutions.

Vinay Thadani, CEO & Director of Grew Energy, said, "This proposed merger marks a significant milestone in our broader group restructuring initiative."

The collaboration integrates 'Infosys Topaz Fabric' -- a purpose-built agentic services suite -- with Intel's high-performance compute platforms, including Intel Xeon processors, Intel Gaudi AI accelerators, and Intel AI PCs, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The partnership aims to provide "right-sized" AI architectures that balance performance, security, and total cost of ownership. This will focus on mission-critical use cases such as IT operations, developer productivity, and automation workflows across various industries.

While the ALH Mk-II helicopters are being procured for the Indian Coast Guard, the Shtil missiles will be deployed on board the Indian Navy's warships.

"The contract for ALH Mk-III (maritime role) along with operational role equipment, an engineering support package, and performance-based logistics support, valued at ₹2,901 crore, has been inked with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd," the ministry said.

These twin-engine helicopters are equipped with advanced features that surpass those of currently operated airborne platforms, enabling them to undertake a wide range of maritime security missions from both shore-based airfields and ships at sea.

On the auspicious occasion of Holika Dahan, the company announced that its Roadster range now starts at just ₹79,999.

This brings electric motorcycles directly at par with popular entry-segment ICE motorcycles, the company said in a statement.

The company's Roadster X portfolio comes in 2.5 kWh, 3.5 kWh, and 4.5 kWh configurations, now priced at ₹79,999, ₹92,999, and ₹99,999, respectively, it added.

Pomalidomide capsule is a generic version of Pomalyst by Celgene.

The product is available in 1mg, 2mg, 3mg, and 4mg strengths and is distributed primarily through speciality pharmacies and clinics, NATCO Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

Commenting on the launch, Vice Chairman and CEO Rajeev Nannapaneni said, "...this further strengthens our oncology and speciality portfolio in the US. The launch highlights our commitment to our mission of making speciality medicines accessible to all patients worldwide."

He further said, "We look forward to bringing more such complex and speciality products to the market in the coming years."

"We wish to inform you that the company has participated in the e-auction conducted by the government of Assam, wherein the company has been declared the 'preferred bidder' for the mining lease of the Sikilangso Limestone Block (Part A & Part B)," said a regulatory filing from JSW Cement, part of the $23 billion JSW group.

Located in Umrangso, Dima Hasao District, Assam, the Limestone Block A and Block B are spread over an area of 200 hectares each, it said.

Tata Motors said it has ascertained from PT Indonesia that the media reports in Indonesia — later reproduced in India — pertain to a domestic policy discussion on imports and local manufacturing and do not indicate any demand or execution risk to the order it has received.

“The order and advance we have received remain programme-driven, and we intend to begin supplies soon and complete deliveries in a phased manner as per our commitment,” Tata Motors said.

Trade setup

On the technical charts, the NIFTY50 managed to close above the crucial budget-day-low levels, indicating some buying support at these levels. However, the 24,571 level will be closely watched as bulls hope for a closing above these levels, for the index to bounce back near the 25,000 levels. The fresh momentum can only be expected if the index posts a weekly close above the 200 EMA levels on Friday.

On the options data front, the initial build up for 10th March expiry indicates 25,000 as the strong resistance zone with the highest open interest on the call side. The 24,500 puts hold the highest open interest on the downside, indicating a crucial support.