The Nifty 50 fell to a low of 7,511 on March 24, 2020. Four years later, it is 3x from those levels. That low was made a day after the nation went into a lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been a swift recovery for the market, which has now delivered positive annual returns for eight years in a row till the end of 2023. The start of 2024 has also been positive for the Nifty, which gained 1.2% in February, 1.5% in March and is up another 1% in April so far.
The ride has been swifter during the last 12 months, when the index making a bottom at 16,828 on March 20. Since then, the index has gained over 5,500 points.
All 50 index constituents have delivered positive returns since the Covid-19 low. Shares of Adani Enterprises and Tata Motors lead the pack with both stocks having gained between 10 times to 20 times during this period. The list is dominated by metal names and stocks like Apollo Hospitals, a recent Nifty entrant and Grasim.
With the kind of gains seen in the list above, even stocks that have doubled during this period, feature as underperformers on the Nifty. However, there are also stocks like Hindustan Unilever, which is the worst performer on the Nifty during this period with gains of just under 30%. Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, UPL, which was the worst performer on the Nifty in 2023, also feature in this list.
All sectoral indices have also delivered positive returns during this period. While broader markets have outperformed, they are not the best performers. It isn’t banking or auto stocks either. Real Estate has emerged as the best performer during this period, with the realty index having gained over 400% during this period. The Nifty Bank index has also tripled during this period.
Indices Since March 24, 2020
Most stocks on the Midcap index have also delivered sizeable returns since the Covid lows. The underperformers on the index, stocks like Delhivery, Nykaa and Paytm, had not listed in 2020. Other than these names, only Yes Bank has delivered negative returns during this period, declining by 32%.
JBM Auto has emerged as the top performer on the Nifty Smallcap index from the lows of March 24, 2020. Other names in this list include stocks like Titagarh Rail Systems, Olectra Greentech and Tata Teleservices.
It must be clarified that the returns in this story have been calculated from the day the Nifty made its low and not from the day these specific stocks or indices made theirs.
