Three of the top 10 Nifty performers in the Tata group’s Samvat 2077

With a growth of 228% during Samvat 2077, Tata Motors was the Nifty best performer. Tata Steel with a gain of 167% and Titan with a gain of 91% were the other two Nifty stocks in the Tata group that have given strong returns. Rest of the top 10 best-performing Nifty stocks were Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Hindalco Industries, ONGC, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel and Adani Ports, rising 92-139% during the period.

Other Nifty stocks in the Tata group such as Tata Consumer rose 61%, while Tata Consultancy Services Jewelery gained 30%.

Barring Reddy’s Labs and Hero MotoCorp, which fell 3-14%, all other Nifty stocks ended Samvat 2077 with gains.

Other Nifty stocks were Wipro up 89%, Tech Mahindra 77%, Reliance Industries 25% and Hindustan Unilever Ltd 10%.

“When we look at the various economic indicators, a bright light shines clearly all around us. The economy seems to be showing a change, which at present looks quite encouraging. Whether this will sustain or not is a matter of concern. Controversial question, but certainly, things are looking up,” CARE Ratings said.

Overall, it believes that the economy is on the right track and will remain in place till March. A third wave looks unlikely, and the vaccination campaign is progressing well and so it is reasonable to expect that the impact will be better afforded by business if it does come.

“We believe stagnant demand will subside in manufacturing, while it will expand progressively for services. Job creation is a clue in the medium term if consumption is to be sustained. We must remember that inflation is a dampener. and statistically it is less than 5%, higher fuel cost, prices of services and manufactured goods will affect consumption once the pent-up fury subsides,” it said.

Despite the Covid-led lockdown and uncertainties that had hampered economic growth, Samvat 2077 ended with the best gains in 13 years. Riding on abundant liquidity, investors posted nearly 40% gains in equities this year – the best return compared to other asset classes.

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gained 39-40% in Samvat 2077. Last year, when the markets took a big hit in March, both Sensex and Nifty had gained 10-11%.

Equity markets had a historic journey in Samvat 2077, with Nifty crossing 18000 mark while Sensex crossed 60,000 for the first time.

Analysts said fiscal stimulus from the government and soft monetary policy stance by global central bankers were key drivers of equities in Samvat 2077. Post-Covid second wave, high-frequency key economic indicators such as GST collections, railway freight, show signs of improvement. Electricity consumption, import-export data, e-way bills etc boosted investor sentiment amid vaccination.

Overall, most sectors gave positive returns, with metals (up 128%), realty (113%) and PSU banks (93%) being the top gainers. Sectors such as pharma (up 23%), FMCG (up 29%) and private banks (up 30%) were underperformers as the defensive heaved a sigh of relief.

In comparison, mid- and small-caps performed very well in Samvat 2077. The BSE Midcap index gained 61%, while BSE Smallcap jumped 79% during the year.