Markets breathe easy as oil prices cool down
Nifty up nearly 1%; Broader market outperforms
Welcome to Aftermarket Report, a newsletter where we do a quick daily wrap-up of what happened in the markets, both in India and globally.
In our latest episode of In The Money by Zerodha video series, we break down the five stages of trader evolution and explain how our thinking about markets changes over time, from naive optimism to a more realistic understanding of risk, probability, and survival in trading.
Market Overview
Nifty opened with a fairly strong 253-point gap-up at 24,281, tracking positive global cues as crude prices cooled by more than 12%, signalling some easing in geopolitical tensions. After a sharp start, the index saw early volatility as prices cooled, dipping toward the 24,100–24,080 zone to fill the gap in the first hour.
Nifty gradually recovered 120-140 points from the above levels and traded with a mild positive bias, oscillating between 24,200 and 24,250 as buyers slowly regained control. By late morning, the index remained range-bound between 24,150 and 24,220 amid intermittent intraday selling.
In the second half, momentum improved further with a steady grind higher as Nifty climbed back toward the 24,280–24,300 zone after 2 PM. Despite volatility in the final hour, the index held most of its gains into the close and eventually settled at 24,261.60, marking a nervy yet positive session driven by relief after the sharp drop in crude prices and improving global sentiment.
Looking ahead, markets are likely to remain sensitive to global geopolitical developments, risk appetite, AI-related news flow, and key domestic cues.
Broader Market Performance:
The broader market had a strong bullish session today. Of the 3,305 stocks that traded on the NSE, 2,544 advanced, 673 declined, and 88 remained unchanged.
Sectoral Performance:
Nifty Auto was the top gainer, rising 3.10%, while Nifty IT was the only sector to close in the red, declining 0.46%. Overall, 11 sectors closed in green and 1 sector ended in red.
Here’s the trend of FII-DII activity from the last 5 days:
Change in OI for the day
The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 17th March:
The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,500, followed by 24,300 & 24,800, indicating potential resistance at the 24,400 -24,500 levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,000, followed by 24,200, suggesting support at 24,000-23,900.
Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations; however, generally, an increase in Call OI indicates resistance in a falling market, while an increase in Put OI indicates support in a rising market.
Source: Sensibull
Tijori is an investment research platform that has constructed niche indices for various themes and sub-sectors. They help you understand the market performance of narrow slices of the market. You can also track the Promoter buying and other interesting stuff, like Capex activity by the companies in the Tijori App’s idea dashboard
What’s happening in India
The Indian rupee strengthened to about ₹91.9 per dollar, rebounding from a record low after the RBI intervened in forex markets to curb volatility caused by surging global oil prices. Dive deeper
India’s 10-year government bond yield eased to around 6.68%, helped by a sharp drop in crude oil prices after signals that the Middle East conflict could de-escalate. Dive deeper
The Union Cabinet approved the extension of the Jal Jeevan Mission, increasing the project’s total outlay to ₹8.7 lakh crore. The focus will now shift from building infrastructure to ensuring sustainable service delivery through institutional frameworks for safe rural piped drinking water supply. Dive deeper
India has eased FDI norms for countries sharing land borders, including China, by amending Press Note 3 of 2020, according to sources. Dive deeper
County Group plans to invest over ₹1,200 crore to develop a luxury housing project in Noida, highlighting strong demand for premium residential properties in the NCR region. Dive deeper
Happiest Minds Technologies shares rose about 17% after the company raised its revenue growth guidance to around 12.5%, citing strong traction following the launch of its AI-First strategy. Dive deeper
Kotak Mahindra Bank is open to acquisitions as it seeks to deploy its excess capital to scale up, CEO Ashok Vaswani said. The bank is willing to evaluate deals, even above $1 billion. Dive deeper
ABB India shares rose about 3% after its parent company announced plans to invest $75 million to expand manufacturing capacity and R&D in India. Dive deeper
Ramco Systems shares jumped over 6.5% after the company signed a deal with Tata Advanced Systems to deploy its aviation software at a defence MRO facility in Bengaluru supporting C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. Dive deeper
The Union government invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, amid growing calls from hotel associations across India to regulate LPG supply. According to the order, the supply of natural gas to the certain sectors shall be treated as priority allocation. Dive deeper
India is expected to increase coal-based power generation this summer as LNG supplies tighten due to shipping disruptions linked to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Dive deeper
What’s happening globally
WTI crude fell below $90 per barrel after surging close to $120 a day earlier, as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled the conflict with Iran could end soon and pledged measures to stabilize oil markets. Dive deeper
Gold rose to around $5,180 per ounce, recovering previous losses as the US dollar weakened after President Donald Trump signaled the Middle East conflict may end soon. Dive deeper
US equity futures edged slightly higher as falling oil prices eased stagflation concerns after President Donald Trump signaled the Iran conflict may be nearing an end. Dive deeper
Saudi Aramco reported a 20% YoY decline in Q4 net profit to $17.8 billion, pressured by lower crude oil prices. For the full year 2025, net profit fell 12% to $93.4 billion from $106.2 billion in 2024. Dive deeper
The dollar index stayed below 99 after a sharp drop as hopes for a quick end to the Iran conflict reduced safe-haven demand for the currency. Dive deeper
Germany’s exports fell 2.3% month-on-month to €130.5 billion in January, missing expectations and reversing December’s increase. Dive deeper
European stocks rebounded sharply, with the STOXX 50 rising 2.4% and STOXX 600 gaining 1.8%, as hopes grew that the Iran conflict could soon ease and oil prices fell below $100 per barrel. Dive deeper
China’s exports surged 21.8% year-on-year to $656.6 billion in January–February, far exceeding expectations and marking the fastest growth since October 2021. Dive deeper
South Africa’s economy grew 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2025, slightly above expectations and marking the fifth consecutive quarter of expansion, driven mainly by gains in finance, trade and household consumption. Dive deeper
Volkswagen reported that its profit has roughly halved, as the automaker faces pressure from U.S. tariffs, rising costs and intense competition in China, its key market. Dive deeper
Management chatter
In this section, we highlight interesting comments from the management of major companies and policymakers in the Indian and Global Economies.
Ashish Kumar Chauhan, Managing Director & CEO, National Stock Exchange (NSE on NSE’s IPO:
“We may onboard merchant bankers for the IPO this month.”
“The entire process will take about seven to eight months.”
“It remains to be seen which entity will give their shares.” - Link
🧑🏻💻Have you checked out The Chatter?
Every week, we listen to the big Indian earnings calls—Reliance, HDFC Bank, and even smaller logistics firms—and copy the full transcripts. We then remove the fluff and keep only the sentences that could move a share price: a surprise price hike, a cut-back on factory spending, a warning about weak monsoon sales, or a hint from management on RBI liquidity. We add a quick, one-line explainer and a timestamp so you can trace the quote back to the call. The whole thing lands in your inbox as one sharp page of facts you can read in three minutes—no 40-page decks, no jargon, just the hard stuff that matters for your trades and your macro view.
Go check out The Chatter here.
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Calendars
In the coming days, we have the following significant events and corporate actions:
That’s it from us for today. We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments, and feel free to share this with your friends to spread the word!