Stocks rebound on value buying; pause in West Asia conflict; L&T, IndiGo surge
Markets had fallen to "18-times forward (PE on the Nifty) which is a comfortable level,” said Shibani Sircar, Senior Fund Manager at Kotak Mahindra AMC.
- Mar 24, 2026,
- Updated Mar 24, 2026 4:32 PM IST
Indian equities may have put their worst behind as West Asia’s conflict shows some signs of easing after the US paused for five days its war plans to hit Iranian power plants.
Beaten down stocks rallied across the globe as investors bought into value and traders covered shorts. Additionally, oil prices fell.
As a consequence, India’s benchmark 50-share Nifty, the world’s worst performing index so far in 2026, rose 1.8 per cent from an 11-month low as investors piled into construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T), top airline IndiGo and oil retailers such as Hindustan Petroleum among 2,200 others that closed in the green.
Markets had fallen to "18-times forward (PE on the Nifty) which is a comfortable level,” said Shibani Sircar, Senior Fund Manager at Kotak Mahindra AMC. For fresh allocations to equity, Mumbai-based Sircar added the key determinants would we when the escalatory ladder between US & Israel on one side and Iran on the other pauses and the subsequent pace of normalization.
As of Monday’s close, India’s Nifty, Sensex and the Bank Nifty had plunged roughly 15 per cent each year-to-date, putting them at the bottom of the pile of global benchmarks. March was brutal for Dalal Street as a large chunk of this fall came in 15 trading sessions on the back of surging prices of crude oil. India is particularly badly hit as New Delhi imports 85 per cent of its energy needs, nearly half of them coming from war battered Straits of Hormuz.
Adding to this deadly cocktail of negatives was the plunging rupee which prompted foreign investors to pull out a net Rs 96,000 crore from local shares. Such was the savagery of bears that Indian stocks plunged 13 per cent and lost Rs 65 lakh crore in market capitalisation (m-cap) so far in March.
VALUE BUYING OR DEAD CAT BOUNCE?
Indian investors are now breathing just a bit easier as West Asia’s warring factions pause a bit even though it may be temporary.
The market’s monthly expiry of futures and options contracts also prompted a short covering on Dalal Street, adding a bit of green to a dreary landscape.
Sircar, also the Head for equity research at Kotak AMC, said her analysts were focusing on potential winners from the banking sector, the healthcare industry and the capital goods/infrastructure space.
"The banking space is well placed in terms of benign credit costs and better earnings profile. Margins should improve and loan growth is holding up,” she added.
Sircar suggested new investors, and those wanting to buy the dip in equity prices, focus on multi-asset funds, flexi cap schemes and multi cap funds from various AMCs.
Investors should be biased towards large caps and deploy fresh funds in a piecemeal manner via monthly systematic investment plans to benefit from this downdraft in equities, she added.
Indian equities may have put their worst behind as West Asia’s conflict shows some signs of easing after the US paused for five days its war plans to hit Iranian power plants.
Beaten down stocks rallied across the globe as investors bought into value and traders covered shorts. Additionally, oil prices fell.
As a consequence, India’s benchmark 50-share Nifty, the world’s worst performing index so far in 2026, rose 1.8 per cent from an 11-month low as investors piled into construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T), top airline IndiGo and oil retailers such as Hindustan Petroleum among 2,200 others that closed in the green.
Markets had fallen to "18-times forward (PE on the Nifty) which is a comfortable level,” said Shibani Sircar, Senior Fund Manager at Kotak Mahindra AMC. For fresh allocations to equity, Mumbai-based Sircar added the key determinants would we when the escalatory ladder between US & Israel on one side and Iran on the other pauses and the subsequent pace of normalization.
As of Monday’s close, India’s Nifty, Sensex and the Bank Nifty had plunged roughly 15 per cent each year-to-date, putting them at the bottom of the pile of global benchmarks. March was brutal for Dalal Street as a large chunk of this fall came in 15 trading sessions on the back of surging prices of crude oil. India is particularly badly hit as New Delhi imports 85 per cent of its energy needs, nearly half of them coming from war battered Straits of Hormuz.
Adding to this deadly cocktail of negatives was the plunging rupee which prompted foreign investors to pull out a net Rs 96,000 crore from local shares. Such was the savagery of bears that Indian stocks plunged 13 per cent and lost Rs 65 lakh crore in market capitalisation (m-cap) so far in March.
VALUE BUYING OR DEAD CAT BOUNCE?
Indian investors are now breathing just a bit easier as West Asia’s warring factions pause a bit even though it may be temporary.
The market’s monthly expiry of futures and options contracts also prompted a short covering on Dalal Street, adding a bit of green to a dreary landscape.
Sircar, also the Head for equity research at Kotak AMC, said her analysts were focusing on potential winners from the banking sector, the healthcare industry and the capital goods/infrastructure space.
"The banking space is well placed in terms of benign credit costs and better earnings profile. Margins should improve and loan growth is holding up,” she added.
Sircar suggested new investors, and those wanting to buy the dip in equity prices, focus on multi-asset funds, flexi cap schemes and multi cap funds from various AMCs.
Investors should be biased towards large caps and deploy fresh funds in a piecemeal manner via monthly systematic investment plans to benefit from this downdraft in equities, she added.