Indian Market Weekly Wrap March 15 to 21: HDFC Bank Chairman Exits, Crude Hits $119

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: What Nifty Did From March 16 to 20

Nifty entered the week carrying the damage of its worst four-week stretch in years. The prior Friday close was 23,151.10, and the market needed a reason to bounce.

Monday March 16 provided that reason. NSE India data showed Nifty gaining over 1% as value buyers stepped into beaten-down banking stocks. Crude had eased slightly and Trump made fresh comments suggesting the Iran war could resolve faster than expected. Breadth was broadly positive with approximately 30 of 50 stocks advancing.

Tuesday March 17 continued the recovery. Nifty closed at 23,581.15, up 0.74% for the session. Eternal led with a 5.59% gain. Tata Steel rose 4.42% and M&M added 2.85%. IT stocks were dragged lower by fresh Nvidia AI announcements that raised concerns about disruption to Indian IT service revenue. Wipro fell 2.06%. VIX fell 8.38%, signalling fear was retreating.

Wednesday March 18 extended the run to three straight positive sessions. Nifty closed at 23,777.80, up 0.83%. JioFin gained 4.59%, Eternal added 3.46%, and Tech Mahindra rose 3.05%. Media, IT, and Realty led sector gains. Sensex had by now recovered nearly 3,000 points from the prior week's low. The market was asking whether the bottom was in.

Thursday March 19 delivered the answer. HDFC Bank filed its chairman resignation late Wednesday night. By Thursday open, the stock was already down sharply. It closed 5.11% lower at Rs 779.70, hitting a 52 week low of Rs 772 intraday. The HDFC Bank selloff spread across the entire banking sector. Combined with crude spiking to $119.13 and the US Federal Reserve signalling no rate cuts ahead, Nifty fell 3.26% to close at 23,002.15. Only ONGC closed positive among Nifty 50 constituents, gaining 1.55%. Shriram Finance fell 6.71%, Eternal dropped 5.38%, and HDFC Bank lost 5.11%. VIX surged 21.79%.

Friday March 20 brought partial recovery. Nifty gained 0.49% to close at 23,114.50 as Accenture's strong Q2 earnings lifted Indian IT stocks broadly. Tech Mahindra rose 3.41%, JSW Steel gained 3.28%, and Tata Steel added 3.08%. HDFC Bank fell another 2.15% as selling continued. The week's net result: virtually unchanged at minus 0.16% but with enormous intraweek volatility.

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: What Bank Nifty Did This Week

Bank Nifty had a turbulent week that mirrored the broader market's pattern of three steps forward, one giant step back.

The index opened the week at 54,156 and climbed steadily through Wednesday to close at 55,326.05, a three-session gain of over 1,100 points. Tuesday's data showed all 9 of the advancing stocks in Bank Nifty were private banks. Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank led the recovery.

Wednesday saw Bank Nifty close at 55,326.05, up 0.82%. AU Bank surged 3.30%, Federal Bank gained 2.59%, and IDFC First Bank added 2.58%. Only HDFC Bank was a notable lagger on Wednesday, as its ADRs had already started falling in US markets after the resignation was beginning to leak.

Thursday March 19 was the session that defined the week for Bank Nifty. The index fell 3.39% to 53,451 as HDFC Bank's 5.11% crash dragged every constituent lower. Not a single Bank Nifty stock closed positive. IDFC First Bank fell 3.62%, Axis Bank lost 3.52%, and the PSU banks were also swept up in the panic. BSE data showed the index lost nearly 1,900 points in a single session.

Friday March 20 saw Bank Nifty close virtually flat at 53,427.05, down just 23.95 points. PSU banks recovered strongly, Union Bank gained 3.03%, Bank of Baroda rose 2.70%, and Canara Bank added 2.62%. HDFC Bank continued falling, dropping another 2.15%. The split between PSU bank recovery and private bank continued pressure summed up the week in one session.

The week ended with Bank Nifty down 1.35% overall. PCR closed at 0.80 with max pain at 54,000. Resistance sits at 55,000 and support at 53,000.

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: Which Sectors Won and Lost This Week

The sector picture this week was complex because Thursday's crash reshuffled the leadership table that had built up across the prior three sessions.

IT was the top performing sector for the week, gaining 2.17%. The gains came on two separate catalysts. Tuesday saw Nvidia AI announcements create brief selling in IT on disruption fears but the stocks bounced. Friday delivered the decisive push when Accenture reported strong Q2 earnings and raised its growth guidance. Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and Coforge all gained 2% to 4% on Friday. The Nifty IT index snapped what analysts had been calling an 8-week losing streak.

PSU Banks gained 2.07% for the week. This was largely Thursday-proof, PSU banks fell on Thursday but recovered sharply on Friday as investors rotated out of private banks and into the perceived safety of state-owned lenders. Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, and PNB all posted multi-session gains.

Pharma added 1.99% on the week, continuing its role as a defensive holding in volatile markets. Metal stocks gained approximately 0.5% despite Hindalco falling 2.8% on Friday.

Private Banks were the worst performers for the week, driven entirely by the HDFC Bank governance shock. The sector ended the week in the red despite three sessions of recovery. HDFC Bank alone lost nearly 7% across Thursday and Friday combined. Realty fell 0.93% and Financial Services dropped 0.68%.

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: Where FII and DII Money Went

FII selling this week was Rs 29,898 crore across five sessions, lower than the prior week's Rs 35,052 crore but still among the heaviest weekly outflows of 2026.

Monday March 16 was the biggest single day outflow of the week at Rs 9,365.52 crore net. Despite the market rallying over 1%, FIIs continued to reduce positions. DIIs stepped in with Rs 12,593.36 crore in net buying, one of the strongest single day DII sessions in weeks and the primary reason the index was able to sustain its 1% gain despite heavy FII exits.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw FII selling moderate considerably. Tuesday recorded Rs 4,741.22 crore in net outflows and Wednesday dropped further to Rs 2,714.35 crore. This was the lowest daily FII selling since the Iran war began. DII buying also moderated to Rs 5,225 crore and Rs 3,253 crore on those days respectively, reflecting less urgency to defend the market.

Thursday was the shock session. FII selling jumped back to Rs 7,558.19 crore as the HDFC Bank governance story combined with crude at $119 triggered fresh risk-off exits. DII buying was just Rs 3,863.96 crore, not enough to offset the selling, which is why Nifty fell 3.26%.

Friday saw FIIs sell Rs 5,518.39 crore net while DIIs bought Rs 5,706.23 crore, almost perfectly offsetting, resulting in the muted 0.49% recovery.

The weekly net picture: FIIs sold Rs 29,898 crore, DIIs bought Rs 30,642 crore. For the first time in four weeks, DII buying marginally exceeded FII selling on a weekly basis.

How Many Stocks Were Actually Going Up

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: What the F&O Market Tells Us

The options data this week told the story of a market trying to stabilise, interrupted by one catastrophic session.

Monday and Tuesday saw PCR recover from the prior week's depressed level of 0.58 toward healthier territory. By Tuesday close, Nifty PCR had moved to 1.14 with max pain at 23,500. Critically, put OI was now higher than call OI at 28.38 crore versus 24.81 crore. This was the first time in three weeks that puts outweighed calls, a genuine shift toward neutral from bearish.

Wednesday March 18 maintained this positive positioning. PCR stayed above 1.00 at 1.06, max pain at 23,700. Highest call OI at 24,000 and highest put OI at 23,500. Option writers were not aggressively building downside bets. The market looked like it was finding a floor.

Thursday March 19 reset everything. After the HDFC Bank shock, PCR collapsed to 0.71 with max pain at 23,200. Call OI surged to 11.91 crore as writers rushed to cap any recovery. Put OI at 8.49 crore. Highest call strike was 23,500 and highest put strike was 23,000. VIX surged 21.79%.

By Friday close, PCR had recovered modestly to 0.78. Max pain sat at 23,200. Total call OI at 13.82 crore versus put OI of 10.82 crore. The lopsided call OI tells you option writers do not expect a rapid recovery. A PCR of 0.78 is bearish-to-neutral — better than Thursday's 0.71 but nowhere near the 1.14 seen on Tuesday.

Bank Nifty closed the week with PCR at 0.80, max pain at 54,000, and resistance at 55,000. The March 24 weekly expiry will be the first important test, with Nifty at 23,114 and max pain at 23,200, expiry gravitational pull is modest at best.

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: IPO Tracker for March 15 to 21

The IPO market this week showed a split picture between retail-sentiment driven small caps and large institutional names that attracted more interest.

Innovision closed subscription on March 17 at 3.3 times. The issue recovered from weak initial demand as the broader market bounced midweek. Listing is March 23 with a market cap of Rs 1,300 crore.

GSP Crop Science closed March 18 at 1.6 times overall subscription. The agrochemicals company with PE of 19.9 and ROCE of 23% attracted measured interest. Listing is March 24 with market cap Rs 1,649 crore.

Novus Loyalty closed March 20 at 1.5 times. The loyalty platform with PE of 63.4 and ROCE of 45% attracted subscription despite the market volatility. Listing is March 25 with market cap Rs 227 crore.

Central Mine Planning and Design Institute opened March 20 and carries a market cap of Rs 12,281 crore, one of the largest IPOs currently active. PE of 18.4 and ROCE of 49% make it fundamentally attractive for a PSU offering. Subscription data was just 0.1 times as of March 21, likely impacted by market conditions.

Two major IPO announcements came this week outside the active subscription window. SBI Mutual Fund, India's largest asset manager, filed its DRHP with SEBI on March 19 for a pure OFS. Reliance Jio is reportedly planning to file DRHP in 2 to 3 weeks targeting a valuation of $100 to $120 billion for a 2.5% stake OFS, which would make it the largest IPO ever filed by a private company in India.

Key Events to Watch Next Week

Indian Market Weekly Wrap: News That Moved Markets