Dear Policyholder,
With Nifty 50 Index down 11.3% Indian equity markets in March 2026 were dominated by heightened global uncertainty, sharp swings in crude oil prices, and sustained FPI outflows. The escalation of the West Asia conflict pushed Brent crude to US$120/bbl at March-end from US$70.8/bbl at February-end. Benchmark indices witnessed extreme volatility, with the Nifty and Sensex seeing multiple sessions of 1–3% intraday moves. Mid-caps and Small caps marginally outperformed with Nifty Midcap 100 down by 10.9% and the Nifty Smallcap 250 down 10%. Nifty underperformed the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets Index (-10.8%) and the MSCI World Index (-8.3%). India underperformed most other EMs during the month except for Korea (-18%). Chinese equities have been resilient by far (-2.5%). During the month of March, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold US$13.2bn in Indian equities in the secondary market, whereas Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought USD15.4bn. The INR came under significant depreciation pressure, touching 95 to the dollar on FPI selling and concerns over a widening current account deficit driven by elevated crude oil prices.