An orderly market rise? It's elusive but possible

India's stock market made an arduous climb back to its 2024 peak before ending lower. Now let's stay focused on what really matters—how closely prices reflect value generation

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Fourteen months after a big selloff attributed to a global shift in capital flows, Indian largecap stock indices regained the limelight on Thursday.

The wait had begun to seem endless, but the BSE Sensex finally surpassed last year's peak to touch a fresh intraday all-time high. This index leapt above the 86,000 mark for the first time, though it closed the trading day lower. Investor nails have been bitten all through these months as indices seesawed, but rolling average trends—shorn of spikes and dips—of the Sensex and Nifty have shown an incline since the start of 2025-26. While the latest upswing had analysts talking of a possible return of foreign inflows, the market's strength has had much to do with domestic investors pumping in money, especially via mutual funds at the retail level. The relative influence of global investor calls has declined. This form of 'atmanirbharta,' or self-reliance, is good for us. But only to the extent it reflects an optimism that real business prospects can explain.