The Indian market stock ended FY26 on a negative note, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty clocking their worst annual performance in a decade, excluding the Covid-impacted year. A big selloff on Monday-the last trading day of the financial year – tightened grip of bears on the Dalal Street. Sensex tanked 1635 points to close at 71,947 and Nifty lost 488 points to 22,331. Market cap of BSE-listed firms plunged by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 412.43 lakh crore on Monday against the Rs 422 lakh crore mark in the previous session.
In FY26, Sensex plunged 5.36% or 4076.96 pts and Nifty lost 3.6% or 834 pts as the ongoing West Asia war and concerns over Trump tariffs impacted investor sentiment across the globe.
Trump’s decisions fuel bear attack
Trump’s decisions on tariffs over trading partners including India in 2025 and an attack on Iran along with its old ally Israel this year have pared returns for investors in global markets. Subsequently, the ciosure of Hormuz Strait by Iran, triggering a rally in crude oil prices extended losses for Indian and global markets.
Correction in numbers
A majority of the correction for both indices came in March 2026, when they declined over 10% each. However, a sneak peek into the history shows that the Indian stock market has not declined for two consecutive financial years in the last 22 years. India VIX, the volatility index, of the Indian stock market surged 119% to 27.88 in FY26.
Among losers, Nifty Realty, IT and FMCG indices are the top laggards. Nifty Realty is down 21%, IT index is down 20% and FMCG is down 13% this fiscal.
Shriram Finance, BEL, SBI, Titan and Eicher Motors were the top Nifty gainers rising between 27% to 38% in FY26.
Trent shares saw the biggest fall in FY26 among Nifty stocks, declining 36%. TCS was teh next biggest loser falling 34%. Wipro, IndiGo and Adani Enterprises shares were the other losers on Nifty declining between 20% – 27% this fiscal.
In contrast, Asian peers clocked strong gains, with South Korea’s Kospi surging 103%, Taiwan’s Taiex gaining 53% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 43.37% in FY26.
Nifty outlook
Commenting on the outlook of Nifty, Hitesh Tailor, Research Analyst – Research at Choice Equity Broking said, “From a technical standpoint, immediate support for the index is placed in the Rs 22,150–22,200 range, while resistance is observed between Rs 22,450 and 22,500. The momentum indicator, Relative Strength Index (RSI), stands at 32.01, suggesting that the index remains near the oversold zone and continues to reflect underlying weakness. A sustained move above the midpoint level of 50 would be necessary to indicate any meaningful improvement in trend strength.”
Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities is bearish on the outlook of Nifty.
“A long bear candle was formed on the daily chart, which is indicating a sharp reversal on the downside after a recent pullback rally of last week. This is not a good sign. The bearish chart pattern like lower tops and bottoms is intact on the daily chart and present weakness could be in line with the new lower bottom formation. But, there is no confirmation of any lower bottom reversal yet at the lows. The underlying trend of Nifty continues to be weak. Having declined below the immediate support of 22500, Nifty could now slide down to the next support of 22000-21900 levels in the near term. Immediate resistance is placed at 22500,” said Shetti.
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