Markets in March - Mayhem, Madness and Meltdown

The markets all over the globe have been bleeding heavily but it's been complete decimation in the Indian bourses. Ever since the news of the war, the markets have been falling relentlessly with no respite whatsoever. This is a bit disappointing considering that except Indian market, all other major markets did see a rise on the upside up until the news of the war. The market here had touched a gold standard mark of 26,277.35 in September 2024 and been meandering around the same levels for all of 2025 and taking 14 months to finally reclaim that mark only towards end of 2025 to be precise on 27th Nov 2025. 

Before coming to the denting impact of March 2026, briefly reprising the summary of events playing up until the news of the notorious war breaking out in order to map levels to see how much the central Nifty index has been put on brakes. After the high created on Sep 27th 2024 which was the figure of 26,277.35, the Nifty nosedived all the way to 21,743.65 on the 7th of April 2025 on the back of the hullabaloo caused by the news of tariff. That translated in a drop of over 4500 points (4533.70 exactly) shedding over 17% in the process.

However the index bounced back pretty sharply from there on to quickly gain lost ground though however getting back the All Time High value was still quite a task and it managed to finally get there around 8 months from that hollow point to take out the earlier high in end of 2025. Nifty registered a high of 26,325.80 on the 1st of December 2025 which was not even 50 points higher than previous high in Sep 2024 and kept chirping around the same levels without usurping for the whole of Dec 2025.

Finally during the first week of the month in 2026, Nifty finally scaled all time high again and reached a pivotal mark of 26,373.20 on 5th Jan 2026. This seemed like auspicious times were ahead especially with the central index hitting new high right at the beginning of the year. This high though incidentally wasn't even 100 points away from the highs made over 15 months back in Sep 2024 (26,277.35).

Normally when new highs are made after a prolonged time, you would normally see a euphoria effect giving it the pedal in gathering and gaining momentum to rise up much further. But sadly in the case of Nifty it didn't happen. After the sacrosanct point hit on 5th of Jan 2026, index was just lurking around this corner and in fact drifted down to hit a low of 24,571.75 on Budget Day Feb 1st 2026. This was a fall of 1800 points but however the markets protected that level and ensured it doesn't hit rock bottom any further. However the levels of 26,000 continued to elude and the markets closed the month of February 2026 on 25,178.65 which was off the highs by roughly 1200 points.

March witnessed a monumental rout with the news of the war being out on the last weekend of February. Right on the first session in March, the index slipped below 25,000 levels just barely protecting the Budget Day lows of 24,571. It didn't take long as just on the next session, that hold was tumbled and and in just couple of more sessions the mark of 24,000 was eviscerated. The madness didn't just stop at the 23,000 levels as by mid of March, Nifty even slipped below that to hit the 22,000 range. From touching a low of 22,930.35 on 19th March, it rebounded again beyond 23,000 again only to be sold into heavily breaking even the 22,500 barrier to register a new low of 22,471.25 on the 23rd of March 2026. There was a small internal bounce immediately with Nifty capturing almost 1000 points very soon to touch a high of 23,465.35 on 25th March but a disastrous Friday of 27th March yielded Nifty to again fall below the 23000 mark to levels of 22,800 though slightly higher than the lowest levels of 22,471.25. And then finally on the last session of the month on 30th March, that level was sliced nonchalantly like a knife on butter falling much below to register an intraday low of 22,283.85 before finally closing proceedings of this wretched month at 22,331.40.

March has been a month laden with madness a plenty. From starting the month above 25,000 levels (25,178.65), it has hit a low of 22,283.85 shedding almost 3000 points off the table. Considering the recent all time high of 26,373.20 on 5th Jan 2026, the fall has now mounted to over 4000 points (4089.35 points). There were many significant down days in this month with single sessions chopping off well in excess of over 300 points which didn't even seem like a misnomer and felt like a regular occurrence. The huge gap downs almost regularly was really daunting. Listing briefly the tormenting days in March which saw the Nifty bleed mercilessly. 10 of the 19 sessions in March 2026 saw a bludgeon in extravagance of 300 points in a single day's trade.

- Monday 2nd March - 312.95 points
- Wednesday 4th March - 385.20 points
- Friday 6th March - 315.45 points
- Monday 9th March - 422.40 points
- Wednesday 11th March - 394.75 points
- Friday 13th March - 488.05 points
- Thursday 19th March - 775.65 points
- Monday 23rd March - 601.85 points
- Friday 27th March - 486.85 points
- Monday 30th March - 488.20 points

Thus, from the above it's easily decodable that 10 of the sessions has yielded cuts in excess of 300 points on a single day and it's only been intensifying further along the way. It's been such a brutal month tainted with shocks aplenty almost on an everyday basis. You will seldom see such violent moves on an everyday basis but that was literally the scene all through March. In the 19 sessions at play in the month of March, there was a movement of 1% or more on almost every single session which was truly unprecedented. There were however 2 back to back sessions of the index also registering plus 400 points each on both 24th and 25th March on account of war tension slightly easing but it was short lived as the Friday on 27th after the holiday on Thursday saw a dramatic down side. On the whole it's been a very painful month for the markets and to accentuate matters further the series of gap downs being completely destructive affecting traders at large and also seeing holes on the investor portfolio.

There are 3 major reasons plaguing Nifty at the moment. One factor being the Indian currency being one of the worst performing currencies shedding oodles of value against the dollar, second being the imminent increase of crude prices due to the ongoing war crisis which has witnessed a sharp uptick in the crude commodity. India being a huge net importer of Crude is deeply under the pump due to this. Thirdly and most importantly from a market stand point is the excessive outflow of funds by Foreign Institutional Investors. They have been selling relentlessly with March seeing a selling figure in excess of a Lakh of crores which is one of the highest ever outgo in the history of Indian stock markets. All these 3 are worrying signs and of course the underlying war situation and company earnings also will have a bearing. But to stem the rot, these 3 factors need some easing out if the markets have to inch up higher.

Dollar - Reached highest ever peak of $95+ in March

Crude - Brent touched a high of $120 and is the highest ever since 2022

FII Selling - Touched monumental high of over 1 Lakh crores. Highest single month selling in history of over one lakh twenty thousand crores that translates to an average outgo of +6000 crores per session

Let's take a look at some of the levels to watch out which Nifty needs to protect and hold on to march forward. The All Time High is 26,373.20. The lowest point hit in March is 22,283.85. The next support is only at the psychological figure of 22,000. If that slips then levels of 21,743.65 will come into play which is the 52 week low of Nifty that it hit in April 2025 on the back of the tariff news. Next protection will be the mark of 21,281.45 which was where Nifty headed on the day of the result of the Lok Sabha elections on 4th June 2024. Following this would be the lowest point of 2024 which was 21137.20 hit in early part of 2024 and closely on heels is the mark of around 21100 (21098) meaning Nifty would have shed 20% off it's recent highs and finally the ballpark number of 21000. If by chance Nifty slips below 21000, huge panic would be ignited as it will be trailing at a 3 year low giving the bonkers to all investors and mutual fund holders that use the SIP platform to invest. Sharing a summarised view of the levels below.

All Time Highs - 26373.20

March Low - 22,283.85

Levels on Downside:
- Psychological Barrier of 22,000.00
- Tariff Day Low Apr 7th 2025 - 21,743.65
- Election Results Day Low Jun 4th 2024 - 21,281.45
- Lowest point of 2024 - 21,137.20
- Bear Market Territory 20% downside - 21,098.60
- Finally closing on is figure of 21,000

Nifty needs to act smart and make sure it protects the 22,000 levels which is the immediate hurdle. There is a high likelihood of getting there if the war tension doesn't recede. Let's hope the bottom is near and Nifty gets back on track. Getting back past glory levels is certainly going to take time considering the inherent implications but at least for the immediate set up Nifty should ensure as to not keeping on breaking lows on an everyday basis. What will eventually happen will only be decided by the outcome of the markets. For now it's wait and watch.

March 2026 will go down as one of the worst months ever in the history of Indian stock market. It's easily the most burning as exactly 6 years prior in March 2020 was when the impact of Covid hit the world at large with stocks all over the globe falling like nine pins gashing leaks across from all directions. A lot of events in March 2026 happened to be eerily similar as even some of the heavy down days matched with exact dates as of March 2020 which was pretty spooky to say the least. March 2026 has been a month of mayhem, madness and meltdown akin to the larger fiasco that took place in March 2020. Let's hope the situation only gets better from here on in and will see how the Nifty shapes up going forward.

Nifty 50's April Acrobatics - Taking everyone for a ride

The month of April has been a watershed month for the Indian markets. The moves that usually get witnessed over a year's time has seen it all play out just in this month of April. The volatility in the Indian markets have been kind of replicated by markets all over the globe but the Indian indices have been special in the sense that they started running up immediately after being bruised & battered which has not exactly been the case with the markets worldwide. The recovery has been truly unprecedented considering how languishing at the bottom the Indian benchmark index was for months on the trot.

After 5 months of continuous down run witnessed from Oct'24 to Feb'25, the month of March saw a turn in direction with the Nifty finally closing positive in the 6th month running. March too didn't begin well as the Nifty finally broke the resistance of 22,000 which it was holding tightly for dear life. It touched an intra day low of 21,964.60 on the 4th of March and from there on it was a stellar run and not even once was 22,000 breached again after that session. In fact Nifty raced well past 23,000 to reach a high of 23,869.60 on the 25th March before tapering off a bit to close the month at 23,519.35 on the 28th of March. 29th March was a national holiday and 30th/31st happened to be the weekend. Thus it felt that Nifty had finally broken the shackles after 5 continuous months of down performance and March was indeed very welcoming for the Indian bourses. It also kind of signalled that the low point of sub 22,000 wouldn't be reached again for this year especially on the back of a very strong closing in March well above 23,500.

However what April taught is never speak too soon and never come to any conclusions especially when it comes to the Indian markets. Markets have their own plans which no market mogul is ever able to predict and always plays it's own tricks and games which seems beyond the realms of comprehension of the common market expert. When April was expected to be a month of consolidation and slowly build on to the gains of March, it just took it's own juxtaposed jump in a convoluted direction doing all sorts of crazy things which only the markets can think of doing.

Early in the month of April, President Donald Trump announced tariff measures extorting high import duties on all countries and India wasn't spared from the list. Markets nosedived to cave beyond imagination. The damage was extremely severe on the US markets but all markets unanimously followed suit crating big time. That holy grail figure of 21,964.60 was taken out in a whimper with Nifty registering a newer low of 21,743.65 on the 7th of April. This was unimaginable as the markets started the month well over 23,500 and to fall about 1800 points in a jiffy was unfathomable. It was destruction of the highest order with stocks tumbling and taking a beating black & blue. It seemed like the worst was upon us. And then miraculously everything changed within a blink of an eyelid. From the bottom on 7th April, Nifty recovered a fair bit to close above the mark of 22,000 on the very same session and then for the whole month not even once was 22,000 tested again. In a week's time on 15th April the mark of 23,000 was taken out and the adrenaline rush didn't end here as another coveted landmark of 24,000 was broken with authority on the 21st of April. The Nifty went up all the way till 24,457.65 on the 29th of April and finally ended the month on the 30th of April by closing out at 24,334.20.

When one compares the end of March with end of April, an 800 point uptick was all that was noticed which appears to be very normal. But the pandemonium caused due to the extreme wild swings is what makes April a month to remember at the bourses. Opening at 23,500 levels it went all the way down to 21,700 levels shedding 1800 points only to bounce back like a tornado all the way up to 24,400 levels gaining 2700 points before finally closing the month at sub 24,300 levels. The difference between the lowest and highest point on the Nifty was a whopping 2714 points. The whole seesaw from low to high happened in a matter of just 14 sessions causing turbulence of the highest kind. With all the carnage unravelling within the first week of April, it looked like March was just an aberration and a repeat of the downward pattern prior to March seemed imminent with 1800 points taken out. And then to rise like a phoenix 2700 points from the bottom was simply unimaginable taking the total swing for the month to a colossal 4500 points. The Nifty 50 index virtually swayed, slipped, swung, somersaulted, swash buckled, steamrolled and switched salvo in what turned out to be an unparalleled month of April.

At the end of April, just a reaction of Phew! would be voiced out by all and sundry at the markets. It was a roller-coaster of epic proportions. At this juncture with the Nifty acquiring over 2500 points from the lowest point of 21,743.65 it may look like a retest of the recent lows is completely out of the woods but you never ever can vouch with certainty especially with this kind of maniacal market moves. At least for now it seems as if the worst is behind us. There is still 8 months remaining this year to see if Nifty can reclaim it's all time high of 26,277.35 registered on 27th Sep 2024. As of now it's just a trickle under 2000 points but the way markets are making all these zigzag patterns it's never easy to say what exactly will pan out. Until then let's just put on our buckle and enjoy this crazy wild joy ride and keep expecting the unexpected as the markets continue to do their thing!

Cosmic Connections surrounding India's Champions Trophy 2025 victory

India's victory over New Zealand in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 final has given the nation much to rejoice and cherish. It was a fantastic win and India's brand of white ball cricket has certainly been top notch and of the highest order. Their fantastic streak in the white ball game just keeps extending from strength to strength. They have now won 2 major championships within a span of 9 months, first with the marvellous victory in the T20 World Cup 2024 in June 2024 which came after a period of 11 years without a global trophy followed by this scintillating win in the Champions Trophy 2025 in March 2025. The only blemish was the unfortunate defeat at the hands of Australia in the home ODI World Cup of 2023. Taking all these events in unison, India has lost just one match across these 3 editions comprising of ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

India also becomes the first side to win the Champions Trophy 3 times. They also attained a unique record by winning all their matches in this edition despite losing the toss every single time which is indeed quite a rare feat. The Indian men's team now has a tally of 7 global ICC cricket tournament victories with 3 CTs, 2 ODI WCs and 2 T20 WCs to boot. Rohit Sharma has now successfully led India to 2 major titles only being behind MS Dhoni who won India 3 titles by claiming a T20 WC, ODI WC and a CT. The other captains to have led India to world titles include Kapil Dev who won India's inaugural ODI World Cup 1983 and Saurav Ganguly who helped India win the Champions Trophy in a shared encounter with Sri Lanka in 2002.

This Champions Trophy victory however didn't come in to be so easy. There were lot of hoodoo's and strange incidents playing against India while taking the field for the final. India's final record in global events especially when held on a Sunday hasn't been a rosy picture with many painful defeats coming on this day. Normally across history, finals of any global sporting event gets played on a weekend to attract maximum crowd base and viewership. In the initial days when the ODI World Cup started, most of the finals were played on a Saturday but however off late majority of the final clashes invariably tend to take place on a Sunday. Let's briefly look at India's record in all the major finals played across limited overs internationals spanning the ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup.

1) Saturday - 25th June 1983 - ODI WC - India won by 38 runs against West Indies
2) Sunday - 15th Oct 2000 - CT - India lost by 4 wickets against New Zealand
3) Monday - 30th Sep 2002 - CT - India won but shared the trophy with Sri Lanka due to wash out
4) Sunday - 23rd Mar 2003 - ODI WC - India lost by 134 runs against Australia
5) Monday - 24th Sep 2007 - T20 WC - India won by 5 runs against Pakistan
6) Saturday - 2nd Apr 2011 - ODI WC - India won by 6 wickets against Sri Lanka
7) Sunday - 23rd Jun 2013 - CT - India won by 5 runs against England
8) Sunday - 6th Apr 2014 - T20 WC - India lost by 6 wickets against Sri Lanka
9) Sunday - 18th Jun 2017 - CT - India lost by 180 runs against Pakistan
10) Sunday - 19th Nov 2023 - ODI WC - India lost by 6 wickets against Australia
11) Saturday - 29th Jun 2024 - T20 WC - India won by 7 runs against South Africa
12) Sunday - 9th Mar 2025 - CT - India won by 4 wickets against New Zealand

Thus looking at the list above, India have won all 3 events when it took place on a Saturday. They also won 2 trophies when it was played on a Monday. The CT 2002 was scheduled initially on a Sunday but the match got rained off and moved to Monday which again resulted in the match being washed off by rain enabling India to share the trophy with tournament hosts Sri Lanka. The reason why the inaugural T20 WC 2007 final was held on Monday was because it was a public holiday on account of 'Heritage day' in South Africa deeming the final to be played on a Monday. Any day other than a weekend hosting a final is something one will not see often and is indeed quite a rare occasion. When it came to Sundays, out of 7 Sundays in which India has participated in finals, they have lost 5 and going in to the match against New Zealand they were 1-5 on the descendancy during finals held on Sunday. Some of the most damning defeats also have come on Sunday including a defeat almost a quarter century ago to New Zealand in this very own Champions Trophy in 2000. Also both India's final defeats in ODI WC came against Australia and behold both being Sundays. The last Champions Trophy final in 2017 also saw India getting a pasting by Pakistan by being served a royal thrashing. The only Sunday win which India enjoyed was on a rain affected final match on a late London evening in CT 2013 when the original 50 over match got rescheduled to 20 overs where India just about managed to pip England despite being on the back foot for most of the match. Thus Sundays in general haven't been to India's calling when it comes to major tournament finals.

When it comes to numbers, this happened to be the third straight global cricketing event which happened to be played on a date involving 9 in some way. 19th Nov 2023 was the final date of ODI WC 2023 with 29th June 2024 being the final date of T20 WC 2024 and the current Champions Trophy final was held on 9th March 2025. India had lost the ODI WC final in 2023 played on a Sunday whereas they won the T20 WC final played on a Saturday. Coming to the CT final of 2025, it was again played on a Sunday somewhat being stacked against India. In numerology, the normal tendency is to add up the digits to make it all within the ambit of 9 numbers. The previous CT final was held on 18th June 2017 where the date equated is 9 (1+8) and India got a hammering. This particular CT final was also on 9th March 2025 equating to 9 thus giving the jitters a wee bit. 

Coming to months, June has been pretty favourable for India with them winning an ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy and a T20 World Cup in this particular period. They however lost the CT final of 2017 in June. September is a month where India won both their finals viz the CT 2002 (shared) and T20 WC 2007. 2 titles have come in March (CT 2025) & April (ODI WC 2011) though both these months have also witnessed the team losing a final viz ODI WC 2003 in March & T20 WC 2014 in April. India have however only lost finals when played in October and November. Hence it's 3/4 in June, 2/2 in September, 1/2 in March, 1/2 in April, 0/1 in October and 0/1 in November. With respect to the dates within the months, India has been super successful in the 3rd part of the month ranging from dates 21st to 30th with 5 of their titles coming in dates of 23 (23rd Jun 2013 CT), 24 (24th Sep 2007 T20 WC), 25 (25th Jun 1983 ODI WC), 29 (29th Jun 2024 T20 WC) and 30 (30th Sep 2002 CT). The only one blemish was another 23 with India losing the ODI WC final on 23rd March 2003. In the first 10 days of the month, the success has been reasonable with India winning 2 titles (2nd Apr 2011 ODI WC and 9th Mar 2025 CT) but also losing 1 final (6th Apr 2014 T20 WC). The days between 11th to 20th has been outright worst for India as they have lost all 3 finals played during this time (15th Oct 2000 CT, 18th Jun 2017 CT and 19th Nov 2023 ODI WC). In terms of numerology dates, #2 has been very good for India with 2 of the most memorable triumphs coming on these dates (2nd Apr 2011 ODI WC and 29th Jun 2024 T20 WC). The other 5 titles have come on #3,5,6,7,9. In terms of losses, 2 of them have come on #6 date (15th Oct 2000 CT and 6th Apr 2014 T20 WC) while others have been spread across dates of #1,5,9. 

Another cosmic connection at play happens to be the colour of the jersey. Ever since coloured clothing became a thing with Limited Overs Internationals beginning from the 1992 ODI World Cup onwards, India have largely sported a predominant colour of "Blue". Each of the planets ruling a day are generally associated with a colour and it might be strange but history has witnessed that specific colours worn on select days have had quite a say. Listing below the days which are ruled by the planets and the  associated colour

Sunday - Sun - Orange (Also can be copper color which is orangish red or reddish brown)
Monday - Moon - White (Generally said to be Milky White)
Tuesday - Mars - Red (Associated with Blood Red colour)
Wednesday - Mercury - Green (Shades of Green both light and dark)
Thursday - Jupiter - Yellow (Any type of Yellow or even Gold colour)
Friday - Venus - White/Blue (More of Curdish White and lighter shade of Blue)
Saturday - Saturn - Black (Pitch dark black or a semblance of a dark blue colour)

Generally, you would see that Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday ruled by Sun, Mars and Jupiter get along well with one another. Australia have been very successful in cricketing finals held on Sunday with the Yellow colour proving to be very prominent. Even the West Indies who normally wear shades of Red/Maroon have seemingly been reasonably successful in finals when held on Sunday. The colours of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday ruled by Mercury, Venus & Saturn are said to be more in sync with each other. Monday ruled by Moon tends to be quite neutral and gets along with both pairs in equal elan. There is a saying that Moon has no enemies. In the second set, Venus ruling Friday & Saturn ruling Saturday are said to be hardcore enemies with Sun who rules the day of Sunday but however this exception does not hold true for Mercury which rules Wednesday. Hence Green colour is equally prominent for both Saturdays and Sundays with the former perhaps being a touch more favourable. In fact South Africa who have won 4 Rugby World Cups have won all their 4 finals when played on a Saturday. They however lost the T20 WC final played against India on a Saturday. 

For India who sports significantly the blue colour, Saturdays have been very successful with them winning all their 3 big ticket final encounters. Even the odd Monday has proved lucky. However Sunday ruled by Sun hasn't really been to India's favour with Venus & Sun seeing bitter enmity. The one thing which worked excessively to India's favour in the CT final of 2025 is that their opponent New Zealand were donning black attire which again is very unfavourable on a Sunday with the enmity of Saturn & Sun being equally or more worse than between Venus & Sun. It would be very interesting to note that when the Kiwis toppled India in the CT final on a Sunday 25 years back in 2000, they were not wearing cardinal black and in fact had streaks of Green & Grey which tilted the tide in their favour. It must also be said that New Zealand's record has been pathetic on all the finals when they have gone with full black. They lost the 2015 ODI WC to Australia badly, had a massive heartbreak by losing to England in the ODI WC of 2019 on boundary count. This continued in the 2021 T20 WC as well when they lost the final to Australia in the UAE. Ironically, the Kiwis only major white ball cricketing triumph came when they were not in full black in CT 2000. The All Blacks are a successful Rugby side and all their 3 victories so far came when they played the final on a Saturday. Their 2 defeats in finals came to South Africa who wear green which was also on a Saturday. Generally it is seen that when a team wears a colour which rules that day plays against a team where the colour also happens to be favourable, the former tends to lose because of the colour being overbearing and working against it.

In this particular final of CT 2025, one advantage which India had was that New Zealand too wore a colour of Black which is completely inimical on the day of Sunday which played to India's advantage unlike the 2000 Champions Trophy final. It is been advised that Black colour especially has an extremely negative effect on Sunday. India obviously had the mastery of their squad working tricks on the Kiwis but no denying that this jersey colour effect also played against them. One other interesting coincidence to note is that in the T20 WC final 2024, the top scorer and Man of the Match was Virat Kohli for scoring 76 and voila the same thing repeated in the CT Final 2025 where the top scorer and player of the match was Rohit Sharma who also garnered the same score of 76 with the bat. 

Thus when you look at the overall scheme of things, these tend to be interesting takeaways. Whatever said and done, the skill sets, temperament and will to win is what reigns supreme and these things tend to take a backseat when the former tends to be paramount. However there is no refuting the fact that in sport, luck also does have an element and these superstitions and cosmic energies have proved to be of consequence at least as per the patterns at play and what history has suggested in the past.