Mumbai, March 10, 2026, 16:40 IST
Indian equities bounced back on Tuesday, halting a two-day losing streak as oil prices pulled back and investors stepped in following Monday’s steep decline. The NSE Nifty 50 climbed 0.97% to finish at 24,261.60, while the BSE Sensex advanced 0.82%, settling at 78,205.98.
Monday’s drop sent the Nifty tumbling to a 10-month closing low, while the Sensex landed at levels last seen 11 months ago. The volatility index, which tracks expected market swings, shot up to a 21-month peak. Oil prices were climbing fast—a headache for India, given its heavy reliance on imported crude.
Oil ended up being the flashpoint on Tuesday. Brent crude tumbled following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who suggested the Middle East conflict might wrap up soon. Even so, benchmarks had already fallen close to 5% since the war’s onset, and Motilal Oswal’s Siddhartha Khemka described sentiment as “cautiously optimistic”. Reuters
Gains reached well beyond the headline indexes. InterGlobe Aviation, parent of IndiGo, led the Nifty advancers on the back of cheaper fuel, giving airlines a lift; HDFC Bank tacked on 1.18%, ICICI Bank jumped 2.73%. Midcap and smallcap indexes picked up 1.6% and 2%, respectively. Only IT and oil-and-gas stocks finished down.
Other markets caught a break as well. The rupee jumped 0.57% off its record low, landing at 91.8050 per dollar. Traders cited probable Reserve Bank of India dollar sales. Government bonds also strengthened, with the pullback in oil easing some of the inflation worries—at least for now.
The market found a bit of a cushion. On Tuesday, data showed Indian equity mutual fund inflows jumped 8.1% in February, hitting 259.78 billion rupees—marking the first rise after a two-month lull. Himanshu Srivastava at Morningstar pointed to a “sharp pickup” in flows into mid-cap and small-cap funds. Foreign investors, for their part, flipped to net buyers during February. Reuters
Still, fragility hangs over the market. Aishvarya Dadheech at Fident Asset Management doesn’t see a real relief rally unless crude drops to $70 or even lower. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are warning they’ll stop regional oil exports if the strikes persist—a sign that supply risks remain very much in play.
Tuesday’s climb felt more like a pause than a green light. Stocks surrendered a chunk of their early gains by the end of trade, with tech players like Infosys still closing lower. Traders kept an eye on crude, the rupee, and any new headlines out of the Middle East before making bigger bets.
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