₹11 lakh crore wiped out in a day: Nifty technicals Turn Scary

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FII selling, Fed hawkishness, and a chairman resignation collide — Bank Nifty support at 53,300 with 52,000 the next stop if it breaks

By S. JHA

Mumbai, March 19, 2026 — Indian equity markets suffered one of their worst single-session wipeouts in recent memory, with investor wealth eroding by approximately ₹11 lakh crore as a confluence of domestic shock and global fear struck simultaneously, according to StockEdge.

The trigger was HDFC Bank. The sudden resignation of the bank’s chairman sent its stock crashing 8 to 9 per cent, triggering a panic selloff across financial stocks that radiated through the broader market. Banks and financials — the heaviest component of both Nifty and Sensex — fell over 3 per cent, pulling every major index into the red. Midcaps and smallcaps declined approximately 2 per cent. By close, virtually no sector had escaped.

Three forces arrived at once. Crude oil surging past $110 a barrel on Middle East conflict fears compressed margins across India’s oil-dependent economy and raised the inflation outlook. The US Federal Reserve’s refusal to signal rate cuts reinforced the dollar and accelerated foreign institutional investor outflows — FIIs sold heavily, especially in financials, extending a selloff that has been running for weeks.

What the charts say

The technical picture offers little comfort. The Nifty’s critical support zone lies around 23,000, with a clear breakdown below that level potentially dragging the index toward 22,700. On the upside, the 24,000–24,300 band now acts as a key resistance area, as earlier support has flipped into a barrier.

Momentum indicators remain weak, with the RSI in oversold territory, while MACD sell signals continue to reflect prevailing bearish momentum. On daily and five-hour timeframes, the signal is a strong sell, with moving averages from MA5 to MA200 showing 4 buy signals against 8 sell signals.

Bank Nifty is in worse shape. Immediate support sits in the 53,400–53,300 zone; a decisive break below that range could open the door to 52,700, and if selling pressure deepens, the index may extend toward 52,000. Resistance above is firm at 54,100–54,200, with the stronger hurdle at 55,000–55,200 — a previous support zone that has now turned into supply.

The Nifty has now corrected nearly 12 per cent from its all-time high. The index delivered a decisive close below the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level and also below the 100-week EMA — a breakdown in medium-term market structure pointing toward a broader bearish trend. The weekly RSI at 30.43 reflects weak momentum approaching oversold territory.

On the downside, 23,000 and 22,800 act as key support levels, while a break below 22,500 could accelerate further pressure. On the upside, 23,500 is the immediate resistance, followed by 23,700 and 23,850.

One note of caution on the oversold reading: RSI in oversold territory signals exhaustion, not reversal. With FII selling sustained, crude above $110, and Hormuz still closed, the conditions for a technical bounce exist — but the conditions for it to hold do not yet.

The session was, as StockEdge described it, “a broad-based risk-off day driven by global fears and domestic triggers.” That is accurate. What it leaves unsaid is that the domestic trigger — a single chairman’s resignation at India’s largest private bank — landed on a market that was already structurally fragile. The global backdrop did not create the vulnerability. It found it.

(Disclaimer: This article makes no recommendation for any kind of trades in the stock market.)