IT Saves the Day, IndiGo Hikes Fares & Why Monday Could Be Crazy - Paper by Pocketful
Market Recap: 2nd April, 2026
Stock News Highlights
Tech Mahindra (+2.63%): IT stocks acted as a major defensive shield today, with the Nifty IT index surging over 2.5% as volatility in Rupee against the Dollar shifted investor focus heavily toward IT.
TVS Motor (-1.15%): Despite broader market anxiety, TVS Motor reported a stellar 25% YoY jump in March sales. The robust numbers were driven by aggressive growth in their 2/3 wheeler and especially the EV segment.
Indigo (+0.30%): IndiGo announced revised fuel charges today, ranging anywhere from ₹275 to a whopping ₹10,000 depending on the flight. While this is bad news for passengers, the market took note of their undeniable pricing power.
Dmart (+2.13%): Retail giant officially crossed the 500-store mark. They just opened 12 new outlets across multiple states. It’s a clear signal that their relentless offline expansion engine is still firing on all cylinders.
Sectoral Performance
IT | Nifty IT (+2.60%): Sector rallied as the top performer, led by strong heavyweights like HCL Tech, Infosys, and TCS, lifting broader market sentiment and recovering sharply from its two-day slump.
Realty | Nifty Realty (+1.07%): Sector rebounded sharply from a steep intraday drop to finish in the green, driven by the broader market comeback and recovering investor sentiment.
Chemicals | Nifty Chemicals (-0.81%): Sector faced selling pressure after the govt. temporarily removed basic customs duties on over 40 key imported chemicals, sparking fears of cheaper imports.
Pharma | Nifty Pharma (-0.92%): Sector declined significantly following reports that the Trump administration may impose steep tariffs on drugmakers without US pricing deals.
Market Insights
Technical Level: Nifty opened with a sharp gap-down near 22,383, found strong support at the 22,182 level, and staged a massive intraday recovery to face resistance near 22,782.
Advance-Decline Ratio: Market breadth improved significantly in the second half of the session, finishing with 2,018 advances against 1,216 declines, signaling strong domestic buying at lower levels.
The Big Picture: GST collections for March hit ₹1.78 lakh cr. However, the the new regulatory regime officially went live yesterday. With the STT on futures hiked by 150% and the new static IP rules for retail algo trading now active, the Street is closely watching drop in liquidity.
FII/DII Activity (April 1, 2026): DIIs remained net buyers with purchases worth ₹7,172 crore, while FIIs were net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹8,331 crore.
Watch Out For Tomorrow
Macro: US Non-Farm Payrolls (Jobs Data) and Unemployment Rate for March will be released on Friday evening. Watch this space, it will trigger significant movement in global markets.
Geopolitical Risk: With the ongoing Middle East conflict, carrying overnight positions into a 3-day weekend carries massive timing risk. Aggressive gap up or down highly likely on Monday morning.
Market Holiday: Take a breather. NSE and BSE will be officially closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday. All regular trading and settlement activities will resume on Monday, April 6.
Index Watch: Nifty showed great resilience today. If global cues cool down over weekend, a breakout could push the index towards 23,000, while strong support remains anchored in the 22,200–22,400 zone.
5-Day Course
Theme: How to Analyse the Best Mutual Funds in Falling Markets
Day 3 – Decoding the Downside Capture Ratio
While looking at absolute falls is good, the ‘Downside Capture Ratio’ tells you exactly how defensive a fund is. It calculates how much of the market’s decline the fund actually captures. A ratio strictly below 100 indicates the fund manager is effectively protecting your capital during crashes.
Let’s take an Example:
If a fund has a downside capture ratio of 75, it means that when the market drops by 10%, the fund historically drops by only 7.5%.
Key Learning: Look for a downside ratio below 100.
Word of the day
Beta: Beta measures a mutual fund’s volatility or risk compared to the broader market. A beta of less than 1 means the fund is less volatile than the index.