Indian equity markets enter the new week under significant pressure after a brutal Friday sell-off saw the Nifty 50 plunge 5.31% over the week, its reportedly steepest weekly decline in nearly four years since June 2022.
Sentiment has soured as domestic retail inflation quickened to a ten-month high of 3.21% in February. The global "risk-off" environment further compounded the prevailing headwinds as the brent crude surged past $101 per barrel market due to escalating Middle East tensions, threatening India’s fiscal deficit position.
Further, the U.S. labor market showed unexpected cooling with 92,000 job losses in February.
Against this backdrop of rising commodity prices, resilient domestic inflation and mixed global cues, Indian equities may remain sensitive to energy markets, global monetary policy expectations and cross-border capital flows in the near term.
In India, the WPI Inflation numbers for the month of February would be released on Monday (16 March 2026). India’s wholesale prices rose 1.81% year-on-year in January 2026, accelerating from a 0.83% increase in December.
Further, the Unemployment Rate for February 2026 would also be announced on the same day. India’s unemployment rate rose to 5.0% in January 2026 from 4.8% in December.
Monday would also see the release of the Balance of Trade data for February 2026. India’s merchandise trade deficit surged to $34.68 billion in January 2026, up from $23.43 billion a year earlier. Imports jumped 19.2% year-on-year to $71.24 billion, while exports rose only 0.6% to $36.56 billion.
Last on Friday (20 March 2026), the Foreign Exchange Reserves data for the period ended on March 13 would be made public. Foreign Exchange Reserves in India decreased to 716810 USD Million in March 6 from 728490 USD Million in the previous week.
In China, the value of New Yuan Loans for the month of February would be announced. China’s banks extended CNY 4,710 billion in new yuan loans in January 2026, sharply higher than CNY 910 billion in December 2025 but below the CNY 5,130 billion recorded a year earlier.
On Monday (16 March 2026), the House Price Index for February 2026 would be released. China’s new home prices across 70 cities fell 3.1% year-on-year in January 2026, deepening from a 2.7% decline in the previous month.
Monday would also see the release of the Industrial Production data, the Retail Sales numbers and the Fixed Asset Investment figures for the month of January and February.
China’s industrial production advanced 5.2% yoy in December 2025, accelerating from a 4.8% rise in the previous month.
China's retail sales rose 0.9% year-on-year in December 2025, slowing from a 1.3% increase recorded in November.
China’s fixed-asset investment fell by 3.8% in 2025, worse than market forecasts of a 3% drop. This marked the first annual decline since 1989, dragged mainly by a sharp fall in property investment.
Lastly, the year-to-date (YTD) FDI data for the period ended in February 2026 would be made public on the same day. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China fell 5.7% year-on-year to CNY 92.01 billion in January 2026, following a 9.5% decline in December.
On Friday (20 March 2026), the Loan Prime Rate for the one-year and the five-year tenors would be made announced. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) left its benchmark lending rates unchanged for a ninth consecutive month in February. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was held at 3.0%, while the five-year LPR remained at 3.5%.
In the United States, the Industrial Production figures for February 2026 would also be released on Monday (16 March 2026). Industrial production in the United States rose 0.7% month-over-month in January 2026, the most since February.
On Tuesday (17 March 2026), the ADP Employment Change Weekly figures would be announced. The US private employers added an average of 15,500 jobs per week in the four weeks ending February 21st, the same pace of job growth from the previous week, according to the ADP research Institute.
The reading of the NAHB Housing Market Index for March 2026 would also be made public on Tuesday. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index eased to 36 in February of 2026 from 37 in the previous month.
On Wednesday (18 March 2026), the API Crude Oil Stock Change for the week ended on March 13 would be unveiled. US crude oil inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week ended March 6th, 2026, paring a 17 million-barrel surge over the prior two week.
The producer price index numbers for February 2026 would also be released on Wednesday. The US producer prices increased 0.5% month-on-month in January 2026, following a downwardly revised 0.4% rise in December.
The US Federal Reserve would also announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday. The Fed left the federal funds rate unchanged at the 3.5%–3.75% target range in its January 2026 meeting, after three consecutive rate cuts last year.
Lastly, on Thursday (19 March 2026), the net long-term TIC flows for the month of January would be unveiled. The net long-term TIC flows in the United States decreased to $28,000 million in December from $206600 million in November of 2025.