Mkts end year of records on a high

The benchmark Nifty50 rose nearly 1 per cent on Thursday, capping off an ebullient 2023-24 that saw domestic equities reach several milestones.

- SUNDAR SETHURAMAN

The 50-share blue chip index ended the year with a gain of nearly 29 per cent, its best performance since the Covid-affected 2020-21.

Despite the recent selloff, the Nifty Smallcap 100 and the Nifty Midcap 100 indices gained 70 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex jumped 25 per cent during the year.

Excluding FY21 when stocks rebounded after a drastic plunge in March 2020 - the returns in the current financial year were the best in over a decade.

The mid and small-cap segments emerged as the star performers in FY24, surpassing the benchmark indices by a wide margin.

The Nifty Midcap 100 outperformed the Nifty50 by 31.5 percentage points, while the small-cap index outperformed the latter by 41.2 per centage points.

During the year, all three indices hit new record highs on several occasions, and India's market capitalisation came close to the $5 trillion mark. The broad-based rally in domestic equities saw India's market capitalisation jump by 50 trillion to finish the year at ₹387 trillion ($4.7 trillion). India also overtook Hong Kong during the year to become the world's fourth largest market.