Let The Light Shine On Your Investments

Diwali is the time when investors engage in ‘muhurat buying’. It is a traditional practice integrated with what the festival of lights brings in its wake – hope, knowledge, well-being and prosperity. So, add a little more colour and sparkle to your Diwali with Shashikant’s choice of well-researched stocks that will do well to strengthen your financial portfolio

- Shashikant

The Indian investment landscape has undergone significant changes since last Diwali. These changes have been driven by a number of factors, including the rising US’ bond yields, inflation still not at a comfortable level for most of the central banks, rising crude oil prices, conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. This has thrown a new challenge for investors to manage their portfolios. However, despite this backdrop, the Indian equity market has shown strong resilience.

The Nifty Total Market index, which tracks the performance of 750 stocks covering the large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap and micro-cap segments, has increased by 10.91 per cent from last Diwali. Though it may not sound very appealing for many investors, if we dig deeper we find that large-cap stocks have not performed in the last one year as Nifty 100, representing largecap stocks, is up by only 5.6 per cent. Compare this with Nifty Small-Cap 50, which is up by 34.05 per cent. The broader markets have kept equity investors in India rich and shining.

The best performing equity index in the last one year has been Nifty Micro-Cap 250, which stands out with an impressive gain of 47.15 per cent, indicating a substantial rally in the micro-cap segment. Furthermore, the Nifty PSU Bank index has demonstrated a substantial increase of 42.44 per cent, underlining the resilience of public sector banks and their strong comeback after years of underperformance. The PSU banks have been on the path of recovery and growth. The Nifty CPSE and Nifty PSE indices have also showcased substantial gains of 39.66 per cent and 37.88 per cent, respectively, underscoring the strong performance of public sector enterprises in India.