Nifty settles under 200-WMA, marks longest losing streak in 25 years

Reports coming in for today mention that The benchmark index Nifty 50 has settled under its 200-week moving average for the first time since the COVID-19-related crash. The extended decline additionally marked the index's longest losing streak during the past 25 years, marking eight straight weeks of losses.

The index closed under 22,500 in trade on Thursday, October 1. "Nifty started softer as sentiment remained weak due to the climb in the US 10-year bond yield and firm oil price marks. Through the session, the index declined further as resilience in oil further noted to the negative sentiment," stated Rupak De, Senior Technical Market observer at LKP Securities.

For the current week, the headline 50-stock index tanked three percent. Among the sectors, almost all major sectoral indices saw earnings-booking at elevated marks. The consumer and auto indices lost the most, down 6.15 percent and 5.85 percent, respectively.

Over the last month, the Nifty has tanked nearly seven percent, losing over 14 percent so far in 2026.  Indian markets continued to bear the brunt of sharp foreign fund outflows and accelerating US bond yields due to the raging conflict in the Middle East.

"Market participants are additionally perturbed by elevated oil price marks and the resultant slide in the indian rupee against the dollar, leading to a broad market sell-off in domestic equities, although IT shares bucked the downward trend after the recent correction," stated Ankur Punj, Managing Director, Equirus Wealth.

For the year, foreign market participants have sold off Rs 3.15 lakh crore, with financial services and IT services stocks bearing the brunt of the selling.

A sustainable recovery would require the Nifty to reclaim 22,600 with broader market participation. "Continued resilience in U.S. yields, further foreign selling or a break below 22,400 would leave the market vulnerable when trading resumes on Monday," stated Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth.

That stated, not all are positive. According to Ambit Institutional Equities, the key market indices may keep extend their losses to snap a 10-year gaining streak and end 2026 in the red.