In 2016, midcaps outshone blue-chip and small stocks, gave 8% returns

Stock market swayed with mixed cues; Sensex rose about 500 points to end 2016 at 26,626.46 points

BSE's midcap index outperformed both its bigger and smaller peers in the year gone by, giving returns of nearly 8 per cent to investors.

Stock market swayed with mixed global and domestic cues with the benchmark Sensex rising little over 500 points to end 2016 at 26,626.46 points.

While the midcap index rose by 888.26 points or 7.97 per cent to 12,031.34 in 2016, its blue-chip peer Sensex gained 508.92 points or 1.94 per cent.

The small-cap index rose by just 209.42 points or 1.76 per cent last year.

After touching a low of 22,494.61 points in February, the Sensex had soared higher to scale a high of 29,077.28 in September, but failed to keep momentum thereafter.

The midcap index scaled its all-time high of 13,713.09 on October 6, 2016 and small-cap index touched its record peak of 13,619.30 on November 1, last year.

Experts said that the "double whammy" of demonetisation and Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential race sparked significant outflows from the stock market.

Brexit and US Presidential elections weighed on the stock markets across the globe, they added.

Market players say smaller stocks are generally bought by local investors, while overseas investors focus on blue-chips.

The mid-cap index tracks companies with a market value that is on an average one-fifth of blue-chips or large firms. Small-cap firms are almost a tenth of that.