The benchmark Nifty recorded its fifth consecutive monthly decline in February – the longest streak of monthly selling in three decades. The Nifty was launched in April 1996. The index had fallen 25% in the five months between July and November 1996. The current downturn is the most-prolonged since then.

The current slide, which began in October with a 6.22% drop, continued into February, with the benchmark declining around 6% for the month. Over the past five months, the Nifty has declined about 14%. This, however, is less severethan the 22% fall witnessed during the four-month selloff between June and September 2001.