The Indian stock market faced a challenging financial year 2026, characterized by extreme volatility and underperformance compared to global peers. Motilal Oswal Financial Services highlighted that FY26 was a near 'black swan' year due to significant geo-economic events, leading to a sharp decline in equity performance. Despite this, the brokerage sees a favorable base for recovery in FY27, starting from April 1, driven by stimulative policy reforms and improving corporate earnings. Domestic institutional investors were the largest buyers, with purchases totaling $96 billion, while foreign institutional investors faced $20 billion in outflows. The Reserve Bank of India and the government implemented various measures to stimulate demand, including cuts in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and repo rates. Motilal Oswal believes that these policies will yield delayed benefits in FY27, although geopolitical tensions, particularly related to the Iran-Israel conflict, remain a risk. With the Nifty trading at 17.7x, a 15% discount to its long-term average of 20.9x, the brokerage suggests this presents an attractive entry point for investors. Notable stock picks include Bharti Airtel, SBI, and Infosys, among others.