BSE small-cap index touches a 3-year high

The BSE small-cap index, which tracks the performance of companies with relatively lower market capitalisation, hit a more-than-three-year high on Tuesday.

At 10,347 in intra-day trade on Tuesday, the index touched its highest level since November 2010. Since August last year, the index has rallied 103 per cent. It had hit a 52-week low of 5,086 on August 7, 2013. As such, the small-cap index has outperformed the Sensex and the mid-cap index, which have gained 37 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively, since August 2013.

In terms of price, through an 11-month period, the stocks of these small-cap companies have gained the most.

Of the 453 companies in the small-cap index, the market values of as many as 253 stocks have more-than-doubled since August last year; of these, 101 stocks rose 200-3,000 per cent. Among the stocks in this index, BEML, Ceat, LG Balakrishnan and Brothers, VST Tillers Tractors, Hindustan Construction Company, SRF, Sintex Industries, Ahmednagar Forgings, Astra Microwave Products and Avanti Feeds have rallied more than 300 per cent during this period.

Meanwhile, analysts expect the undertone of Indian markets to remain positive ahead of the Budget, to be presented on July 10, as they expect the finance minister to lay down the new government’s vision for the economy through the next five years.