Stock market returns in the first half of 2024 are the highest in the last three years

The Indian stock market recorded its best performance in the last three years in the first half of the current calendar year ending June, 2024.

During this period, the Sensex has gained 9.4 per cent and the Nifty 10.5 per cent. In the same period, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices have gained 25 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, while the Nifty mid-cap and small-cap indices have gained 20.7 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. Thus, mid-cap and small-cap stocks have outperformed the benchmark indices. Earlier, in the first six months of the calendar year 2021, the Sensex had gained 9.9 per cent and the Nifty 12.5 per cent, which is the best performance ever. In 2021, the Nifty mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 29.4 per cent and 37.3 per cent, respectively.

Shares of auto, capital goods, telecom and state-owned companies led the stock market gains in the first half of this year. During this period, domestic institutional investors invested Rs. 2 lakh crore in sector stocks. The Nifty Realty index rose 40 per cent during the period under review, while the Power and Auto index rose 37 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively. Out of the 50 stocks included in the Nifty 50, 10 stocks have given a return of more than 30 per cent. The value of 37 mid-cap and small-cap stocks has doubled in the same period.