Win some, lose some: February redux for Nifty, not its components

The Nifty50 is almost back at 12,000 — a level last seen during February-end. While the index is at a near eight-month high, several of its components are languishing. Currently, only 19 Nifty stocks are above their February levels; 31 are still in the red—some as much as 50 per cent. The list of laggards is dominated by financials (includes banks) and many public sector undertakings (PSUs) — Coal India, Indian Oil and ONGC currently trade 30 per cent below their February levels. Financial stocks have recouped their losses in the latest market up-move but  remain the top-losing stocks in the eight-month period.

Meanwhile, companies in the pharma, information technology (IT) services and automobile space have skyrocketed. Also, Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s most valuable firm, currently trades 50 per cent higher compared to its February levels. Analyst say picking stocks from the top 50 universe has become a challenging thing—“stocks with good prospects are richly-valued, stocks that offer value are being shunned by the market.”