When Indian markets corrected by nearly 11% in March, most analysts expected panic selling. Instead, equity mutual fund net inflows surged from ₹26,000 crore to nearly ₹40,000 crore, representing a 50% jump during the market's steepest decline. According to The Economic Times, SIP contributions also climbed from ₹29,000 crore in February to approximately ₹32,000 crore in March. Sandipan Roy, CIO at Motilal Oswal Private Wealth, described this behavior as evidence that Indian investors have evolved significantly from their 2008 or 2020 counterparts.
On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Indian markets opened lower with the Sensex down by 377 points (0.48%) to 78,872.07 and the Nifty 50 declining 113 points (0.44%) to 24,462.70 as of 9:23 AM. Bank Nifty was down by around 0.24% to 57,245.60, while Fin Nifty fell by 0.26% to 26,779.20. The decline came amid cautious global cues and rising oil prices, with Brent crude futures inching closer to $100 per barrel. Notably, both indices had ended strongly on Tuesday, with Nifty 50 closing after advancing over 1% during the day.
Gold is expected to remain volatile with a broad trading range of $4,300–$5,000 in the short term, according to The Times of India. Silver is expected to remain volatile but with a stronger upside bias, supported by its structural deficit of 46.3 million ounces and growing linkage to the industrial and AI-driven demand cycle. Recent price action already reflects high beta moves of ±3% daily swings, indicating heightened sensitivity to macro and risk sentiment. On the downside, strong physical and investment demand is likely to emerge near $75 or below, while on the upside, momentum could drive prices toward the $84–$91 range.
Multi-asset allocation funds have crossed ₹2 lakh crore in AUM and are pulling in ₹5,000 to ₹6,000 crore in net inflows every month, as reported by The Economic Times. March marked the 11th consecutive month of net inflows into gold ETFs. International funds saw their mutual fund AUM grow from ₹25,000 crore to nearly ₹38,000 crore, with roughly ₹500 crore flowing in monthly. LRS data through December 2024 showed that Indians invested $1.77 billion in offshore debt and equity — a 90% jump over the same period the previous year, with overseas real estate investments growing 105%.
Roy's framework for 2026 emphasizes moderation with no extreme excesses or deep negatives. For a balanced investor, he recommends 30% in largecaps, 30% in mid and smallcaps, 20% in international funds, and 20% split between gold and multi-asset funds. According to The Economic Times, his firm is currently overweight on mid and smallcaps relative to largecaps, a positioning that has paid off as smallcaps have outperformed during the recent market rebound. The strategy involves scaling up when sentiment turns too pessimistic and paring back when it gets too optimistic.
Alternative investments have moved from the fringes to the core of HNI and ultra-HNI portfolios, with Category II AIFs seeing commitment amounts by December 2024 already surpassing the total collected through all of FY25. As reported by The Economic Times, several private equity funds that previously relied only on offshore limited partners are now actively raising domestic capital. Roy identified defence and capital markets as structural long-term investment stories, arguing that defence investments are driven by rising geopolitical uncertainty and deglobalisation, while capital markets stand to benefit from India's growing financialisation and household savings shift into market instruments.
