New Delhi, March 31 -- The ongoing West Asia war has drained momentum from Indian equities, pushing markets into oversold territory and reflecting extreme pessimism in March.

Market breadth, widely measured by the ratio advancing stocks to declining ones, has weakened significantly. Nearly half of the Nifty 500 stocks-242 companies-are trading close to 52-week lows, compared to just 61 near their highs, according to National Stock Exchange (NSE) data, on March 30, highlighting the depth of the sell-off.

The advance-decline (AD) ratio has fallen sharply in the last three months. As of 30 January, the AD ratio was 1.38, nosediving to 0.38 on 27 February and further down to 0.2 on 30 March, the last day of stock trading on Indian exchanges...