In Street chaos, a tiny set of stocks sees big returns

Beneath the gloom gripping Indian equities, a quiet rally is reshaping parts of the market. Even as foreign investors pull money out, crude prices climb and benchmark indices struggle, a narrow band of companies tied to infrastructure, industrials and commodities is emerging as a winner.

- Niti Kiran & Mayur Bhalerao

A Mint analysis of 1,431 BSE-listed stocks with market capitalization of more than ₹1,000 crore shows that 47% of these companies are in the red so far in 2026, but 64 stocks—about 5% of the universe—posted outsized gains of over 50%.

Additionally, 150 stocks gained between 25% and 50%, 245 rose by 10% to 25%, and another 294 recorded modest gains of up to 10%.

Notably, one-third of these high-performers are concentrated within the capital goods, industrials, and commodity-linked sectors, prompting a closer look at their drivers. Key movers include Sterlite Technologies, whose stock price quadrupled, along with GE Power India and Aeroflex Industries—a manufacturer of metallic flexible flow solutions—both of which have doubled year-to-date.

According to Gurmeet Singh Chawla, managing director at Master Portfolio Services, this sharp outperformance in a narrow set of stocks reflects a market that is rewarding earnings clarity over everything else.