Nifty suffers longest losing streak in 25 years
What's the story
India's benchmark index, the Nifty50, is on its longest losing streak in 25 years. The index has been declining for eight consecutive weeks now, weighed down by foreign selling, high global bond yields and geopolitical risks. It is already down 15% from its all-time high of 26,373 reached in January this year. A 20% decline from the peak would mark a bear market.
Market history
Nifty50's longest losing streak since 2001
The Nifty50 has declined by over 3% this week, bringing its fall in the last nine weeks to some 8.5%, or over 2,000 points.
This is the longest losing streak since 2001 when the index fell for nine consecutive weeks.
The longest losing streak in history was a 10-week fall in 1993, followed by another nine-week decline in 2001.
Market trends
Factors behind the ongoing decline
The latest decline comes after the Nifty50 ended September down 6.1%, marking its second consecutive monthly loss amid continued foreign outflows, high crude prices and fears of rising global bond yields.
Foreign investors have pulled out over ₹2.6 lakh crore from Indian equities in calendar year 2026 alone.
The market breadth has also worsened sharply with nearly 81% of Nifty500 stocks trading below their 50-day simple moving averages, according to ICICI Securities.
Market outlook
Technical outlook for Nifty50
ICICI Securities noted that over the last two years, the Nifty50 has seen two major corrective phases where declines were halted around the 80% Fibonacci retracement of the preceding rally.
The ongoing correction is its third such instance, with the index once again testing this zone.
For a meaningful pullback to emerge, it needs to reclaim and close above 23,080, which it has failed to do for seven weeks now.
Global impact
Global cues and their impact on the market
The US 10-year Treasury yield has remained around 5.3%, near a two-decade high.
The latest reading was around 5.298%, keeping global financial conditions tight and reducing the relative appeal of emerging-market equities.
Brent crude eased below $100 a barrel to around $98.03, offering some relief after its recent surge but remains highly sensitive to developments around the Strait of Hormuz, with any setback in diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran potentially restoring geopolitical risk premium quickly.