Over 60% of top BSE 500 stocks trading 20% below their peaks

Sluggish earnings growth, 50% US tariff heat keep markets on the edge

- SUNDAR SETHURAMAN

While headline indices remain around 5 per cent away from record highs, the picture at the level of individual stocks is less reassuring. More than 300 of the BSE 500 constituents are trading 20 per cent or more below their all-time peaks.

The figures highlight how the post-pandemic broad-based rally that lifted Indian equities has stalled over the past 12 months, against a backdrop of slowing earnings growth and escalating trade tensions with the US.

The Sensex and the BSE 500 are currently 4.35 per cent and 5.15 per cent, respectively, below the highs scaled a year ago.

Public spending and a surge in consumption following the Covid-19 pandemic had fuelled earnings across a wide range of sectors and powered the market rally.