March 2026 in numbers: the worst month since 2020

March and the quarter in brief

March 2026 was the Nifty 50's worst calendar month since March 2020. The index fell 11.3%, from 25,178.65 on 27 February to 22,331.40 on 30 March, the month's last trading day. That left it 15.2% below its record close of 26,328.55 from 2 January.

Over the January–March quarter the Nifty 50 fell 14.5%. Foreign institutions sold a record ₹1,22,540 crore of shares in March alone, and domestic institutions bought ₹1,42,961 crore. Gold fell 7.9% in the month but ended the quarter 12.9% higher. The dollar rose 3.7% against the rupee in March.

Stocks

There was nowhere to hide. Of the 123 NSE indices with a published P/E on both days, not one rose in March. Over the whole quarter, one of 120 did: Nifty CPSE, up 8.4%.

The order of the damage changed through the quarter. Nifty IT, February's casualty, was among the smallest fallers in March. Banks, which had held up in February (Nifty Bank set a record on 18 February), fell hardest. Over the full quarter Realty (−25.8%) and IT (−23.3%) were down most, and Metal, Energy and Pharma lost little.

India VIX doubled, from 13.70 to 27.89, and ended the month at its high. The Nifty 50's fall from its record is set against earlier ones in our 31 March post.

Valuations

The Nifty 50's P/E fell from 22.03 to 19.62 over the month and from 22.75 at the start of the year. Over the quarter the price fell 14.5% and the P/E 13.8%, so the earnings behind the index slipped slightly, by about 0.9%. The P/E fell for 119 of the 123 indices in March. The Nifty P/E's dip below 20 has the longer history.

Funds

Median return of each category, Direct plan, Growth option, month-end NAV to month-end NAV:

The quarter column counts funds with NAVs at both ends of the quarter, so its fund counts can differ by one from the March column. Arbitrage funds were the only category here with a gain in either period.

Gold and silver

International spot prices converted to rupees, before import duty and GST. Both metals fell in March, but both started the year far lower: gold ended the quarter at ₹1,40,990 against ₹1,24,843 on 31 December 2025, and silver at ₹2,26,581 against ₹2,02,417. Gold ended March 10.4% below its 29 January peak.

Institutional flows

Both March figures are the largest in our flow data, which starts in September 2024. The previous largest month of FII selling was October 2024, at ₹1,14,446 crore, and the previous largest month of DII buying was the same month, at ₹1,07,255 crore. In March FIIs sold, and DIIs bought, on every one of the 19 sessions.

The rupee

The dollar rose from about ₹91.01 on 27 February to ₹94.36 on 31 March, 3.7%, and 5.1% over the quarter from ₹89.77. The rupee's weakest close in our series, which starts in 2016, was ₹94.78 to the dollar on 30 March.

What this does not tell you

A record month of selling is not a signal either way. It tells you what happened in March, not what April holds.

Index levels are not your returns. A fund's NAV follows its own holdings, and the quarter's fund figures depend on the exact start and end dates.

The flow figures are provisional and cover the cash market only. The metal prices leave out duty and GST. Nothing here is advice to buy or sell.

Where to go from here

The live numbers are on NSE index valuations, gold and silver prices and FII and DII data. FII selling past ₹1 lakh crore looks at the selling as it crossed that mark, and last month's numbers are in February 2026 in numbers.

The new financial year starts today, 1 April. For what that means for capital gains booked in the year just ended, see mutual fund taxation in India.