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Nifty -11.31%, Bank Nifty -16.94%, India VIX 27.89 — every sector negative
Published by The Retail Trader · MAR 30, 2026 · Monthly Audit
March 2026 is one of the worst months in the whole dataset. Every index and every sector closed negative — such a month is rare, because usually something is left standing.
19 sessions:
• Bank Nifty — -16.94%, fell the most
• Sensex — -11.49%
• Nifty 500 — -11.39%
• Nifty 50 — -11.31%
• Midcap 100 — -10.94%, fell the least
Bank Nifty falling 5.6 points more than Nifty matches our Bank Nifty analysis: its beta is 1.18, and on bad days it falls more than Nifty. In March that relationship showed up in full.
Of Nifty's 19 sessions, 8 were up and 11 were down. The worst day was 19 March (-3.26%) and the best was 24 March (+1.78%) — so the biggest up-day also came right around the trough, the same pattern we saw in 2008 and 2020.
Eight out of eight negative:
• Pharma — -3.1%, the smallest loss
• IT — -5.0%
• Metal — -9.0%
• Media — -10.9%
• FMCG — -11.0%
• Realty — -16.6%
• Bank — -16.9%
• PSU Bank — -19.8%, the biggest
When every sector goes the same way, sector selection gives no protection. In that month only position size and cash could help — which sector you picked did not.
India VIX went from 17.13 to 27.89 within the month and closed right there — the highest level of all of 2026. For reference: in December 2025 VIX had dropped to a low of 9.15. In three months, fear tripled.
According to our VIX study, after the 25-35 regime the average 3-month return for Nifty has been +1.08%, and positive 60% of the time. April brought +7.46% — well above that average, but in the same direction.
All figures in this article are computed from The Retail Trader's own daily index database, up to 24 July 2026. Past performance is no indication of the future, and this analysis is for education only — it is not a buy or sell recommendation.