Indian market may turn March's best performer

While Nifty erased its entire losses for the year, the Sensex is still 155 points lower

- Mayur Bhalerao & Ram Sahgal

The Nifty erased its entire losses for the year as the market rose for a sixth straight session, buoyed by hopes of limited impact from the reciprocal US tariffs that kick in next week.

The charge of the bulls has also put India on course to becoming this month's best-performing major global market, from the worst-performing one in the five months through February 2025.

The surge also comes exactly five years after India imposed a nationwide pandemic lockdown, a day when the Nifty saw losses since the start of the month touch 33%.

On Monday, the Nifty rose 1.32% to 23,658.35, while the Sensex rallied 1.4% to 77,984.38.

However, the Sensex fell short of erasing its losses by 155 points.

The rally from the low in early March, described variously as a trading bounce to a full-fledged recovery, has also boosted India's performance in global index provider MSCI's All Country World Index (ACWI).

"The correction's done and we could be headed toward the record high made in late September," said market veteran Ramesh Damani.

Despite the ambient noise around a global tariff war, one could "consider investing" in domestic-focused businesses within the mid-and small-cap spaces, Damani said.

Nifty made a record high of 26,277.35 on 27 September last year and fell 16.4% to a nine-month low of 21,964.6 on 4 March.