Nifty posts worst FY26 close as West Asia war enters week five, Rupee bleeds past 95

Markets ended the final session of FY2026 sharply lower on Monday, with the Nifty 50 falling 488 points or 2.14 per cent — marking a loss of 5.05 per cent for the full financial year — as the US-Iran conflict entered its fifth week without any credible pathway to resolution, and crude oil holding above $100 a barrel.

It was the worst monthly decline for equities in six years while the Nifty50 ended nearly at a one-year low and the Sensex at a 2-year low. The Sensex fell 1,636 points. India VIX surged to an intraday high of 28.79 before settling near 30.

The Nifty opened gap-down at 22,549, briefly touched 22,714, then slid to a session low of 22,283. This was the eighth session in the March expiry series where the index closed with losses exceeding 1 per cent.

India 10-year bond yield tops 7%, sees biggest monthly surge in 9 years

Indian government bonds slumped on Monday, closing out a rough financial year, with the 10-year benchmark bond yield posting its biggest monthly spike in nine years, on ‌bets that a protracted Middle East war would upend the government’s fiscal plans and as the rupee plunged past ⁠95 per dollar.

The 10-year bond yield breached the 7% level for the first time since July 2024 and ended 9 basis points higher ‌at 7.0345%, its highest since May 2024. The yield jumped 37 bps in March, the biggest such move since ‌February 2017.

The rupee plunged to a low of 95.21 ‌against ⁠the dollar on Monday, while stocks also tanked.

Bonds were caught ⁠in a sharp selloff across the country’s markets that included surging swap rates as investors weighed the risks of the Middle East war escalating further, which could hurt growth and stoke inflation ‌for net energy importer India.

Fertilizer sales spike in March, surpassing monthly estimates and previous year totals

Farmers appear to be stockpiling fertilizers as government sales data for March shows a sharp spike in demand. By March 23, the volume of crop nutrients purchased had already overtaken the estimated demand for the full month and surpassed sales from the same period last year.

As much as 20.21 lt of urea was sold during February 28-March 23, as against 16.2 lt in the whole of March 2025 and against estimated demand of 14.96 lt for the month.

Similarly, 4.78 lt of DAP was sold between February 28 and March 23, against an estimated demand of 2.43 lt for the whole of March 2026, while 1.58 lt of MOP was sold against 1.8 lt of estimated demand, and 7.22 lt of complex was sold against 7.05 lt of estimated demand, reports Prabhudatta Mishra.

Committee of Creditors to record reasons for selection of successful resolution applicant under IBC

The amended Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) framework sharpens transparency norms by requiring the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to record detailed reasons for selecting the successful resolution applicant, a move Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said would strengthen accountability in the resolution process and reduce litigation over bid selection.

The provision forms part of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday after being reworked in line with the recommendations of a Select Committee. Replying to the debate, Sitharaman said the government had accepted all 11 recommendations of the committee and added an additional transparency clause of its own, reports Shishir Sinha.

Top Business & Market Headlines Today — BL Morning Report, March 31, 2026