After a sharp sell-off triggered by the US-Iran war in March, April 2026 turned out to be the strongest month for India’s equity benchmarks in the last 28 months. The Nifty rose 7.46 per cent and the Sensex 6.90 per cent during the month, recording their best monthly performance since December 2023 and partially reversing from March’s more than 11 per cent rout.
Previously, both the Sensex and the Nifty had logged 7.83 per cent and 7.90 per cent in December 2023, respectively.
The ceasefire between the US and Iran in the middle of the month, cheaper stock valuations, and a steady earnings season helped markets bounce back even as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell heavily. FIIs sold Indian stocks worth Rs 60,847 crore in April 2026, according to data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL), after selling off a record Rs 1,17,775 crore in March.
"While FIIs were busy offloading Indian equities, our domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and retail crowds essentially swallowed that supply whole,” said Ravi Singh, chief research officer -research at Master Capital Services. He added that domestic investors looked past the geopolitical uncertainty, betting that the macro disruption would ease before materially impacting corporate earnings.
“They called the geopolitical bluff, betting that the macro turbulence would blow over before it could actually dent corporate earnings," he said.
Top Gainers In Nifty 50
Among the 50 stocks in the index, Adani Enterprises was the top gainer in April with a gain of nearly 37 per cent. It was followed by Adani Ports, up 26.26 per cent, Trent, which gained 25.75 per cent, Nestle India, up 24.15 per cent, and Hindalco, which rose 17.36 per cent.
Microcaps, Smallcaps Outperforms Benchmarks
Broader markets delivered stronger gains than the benchmarks in April. The Nifty Smallcap 100 surged 18.44 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 13.55 per cent, Nifty Microcap 250 rallied 21.55 per cent, while Nifty 500 added 10.50 per cent.
Sectors Leading Recovery
Leading gains in April, the top-performing sectoral indices were Nifty Realty, which surged 21.87 per cent, followed by Nifty Media with a gain of 15.38 per cent, Nifty Metal, up 15.21 per cent, Nifty FMCG, which gained 12.15 per cent, and Nifty Bank, which advanced 9.12 per cent.
Here’s a complete list of sectoral indices which led gains in April.
Nifty Realty: 21.87%
Nifty Media: 15.38%
Nifty Metal: 15.21%
Nifty FMCG: 12.15%
Nifty Bank: 9.12%
Nifty Financial Services: 9.08%
Nifty Auto: 9.04%
Nifty Private Bank: 8.85%
Nifty Oil & Gas: 8.40%
Nifty PSU Bank: 7.74%
Nifty Healthcare: 5.05%
Nifty Pharma: 4.65%
Nifty IT: 1.00%
However, the contribution to the Nifty 50’s rally is not determined by performance alone, but also by sector weightage in the index. Banking and financial services, which together account for 35.27 per cent of the benchmark, likely played the biggest role in lifting the index due to their dominant share. They were followed by oil and gas with a weight of 10.83 per cent, IT at 8.58 per cent, automobiles at 6.65 per cent, and FMCG at 6.20 per cent.
