The see-saw battle of bulls and bears since 2020

The Indian bourses saw a see-saw battle between the bulls and the bears since 2020, said a blog by Kotak Mutual Fund. "Indian equity markets have seen a fair amount of ups and downs over the last two years, largely on account of the Covid-19, the lockdowns that were put in place to restrain it, and its consequent impact on the global economy," the blog said.

The Nifty 50 sank to a low of nearly 7,500 points in March 2020 post which it started its upward climb to more than 18,500 points in October 2021. This translates into gains of nearly 150 per cent or the bull phase of the market.

"This stellar rally in equities was aided by multiple factors - central banks around the world cutting interest rates to aid economic growth, corporate earnings seeing strong growth, and record inflows from investors," the blog said.

From October 2021 onwards, equities started seeing a correction, which continued up to June 2022 with the Nifty 50 slipping to below 15,200 points by the end of this period.

As central banks turned their focus to a spike in inflation, and earnings upgrades saw a halt amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, participation of retail investors in the equity markets started thinning, while foreign institutional investors turned sellers.

The Nifty 50 index fell nearly 18 per cent between October 2021 and June 2022.

On the other hand, July 2022 has been an interesting month, with the Nifty 50 rising nearly 9 per cent.

It could be a turnaround, said Nilesh Shah, Group President and Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co.

"Now, central banks may not raise interest rates as much as feared, inflation seems to have peaked out, and FPIs have suddenly discovered India and started buying," Shah said, while discussing the outlook for August.

The Nifty 50 was positive as on August 8, but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the month pans out.