Happy birthday, Nifty50: Index turns 29; here's its journey through history

India's benchmark equity index Nifty50 celebrates its 29th birth anniversary today on April 22, 2025. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) had launched the Nifty50 index on this date in 1996, just two years after the exchange started its operations. The index was launched with a base date of November 3, 1995, and a base value of 1,000. Derivative trading on the Nifty50 began on June 12, 2000. 

 

About Nifty50 index

The Nifty50 is a diversified 50-stock index, tracking the performance of 50 of the largest and most liquid stocks across 15 sectors of the Indian economy. The index is used for a variety of purposes such as benchmarking fund portfolios, index-based derivatives, and index funds. The index is widely tracked by mutual funds, ETFs, and global investors as a key indicator of India’s market sentiment and economic trajectory. Its performance encapsulates the highs and lows of India’s equity markets and serves as a mirror to the country’s evolving economic landscape.

 

 

Nifty50 Index represents about 55.48 per cent of the free float market capitalisation of the stocks listed on NSE as on March 28, 2025. The total traded value of Nifty50 index constituents for the last six months ending March 2025 is approximately 30.21 per cent, according to the data available on the NSE.  

On this day, 29 years ago, Nifty 50 was launched with a base date of November 3, 1995, marking a significant milestone in India’s capital markets journey. Nifty has reflected India’s growth story and has been the benchmark for India’s capital markets and the economy.  Here's… pic.twitter.com/G7xjPafu2b

— NSE India (@NSEIndia) April 22, 2025

 

Nifty50 historical performance

The Nifty50, since its inception, has climbed several milestones, scaling a peak of 26,277.35 in September 2024. The index crossed the 1,000-point mark in December 1999, reaching 2,000 points by December 2004. It continued to climb steadily, touching 3,000 points in January 2006 and 4,000 points in December 2006. By September 2007, the index reached 5,000 points, and a decade later, it hit the 10,000-point mark in July 2017.

 

In recent years, the pace of growth accelerated, with the index surpassing 15,000 in February 2021 and 20,000 in September 2023. It then crossed 25,000 points in August 2024 and recorded 26,000 for the first time on September 24, 2024.  Also Read: 5 midcap stocks ideas that can deliver up to 24% returns in the short-term

 

Nifty50 at all-time level

In terms of peak performance, the Nifty50 recorded its highest-ever closing value of 26,216.05 on September 26, 2024. The following day, it reached its all-time intraday high of 26,277.35. These record highs followed a sustained rally supported by healthy corporate earnings, strong macroeconomic indicators, and high levels of retail and institutional participation in equity markets.

 

Nifty50 major corrections

The index has also experienced significant corrections and periods of volatility, market recessions, and other uncertainties. Over the years, notable corrections have occurred in response to both domestic and global events, such as the 2008 global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global inflationary pressures. The index recently corrected sharply due to rising uncertainty over a recession in the US economy owing to the reciprocal tariff announcements by US President Donald Trump.

 

The index, however, has historically shown resilience, and pared the losses.

 

Nifty50 - OG stocks

At present, out of 50, as many as 20 constituent stocks of Nifty50 are the ones that were there at the time of inception and are still there today, according to data from ACE Equities. These include Reliance Industries (RIL), State Bank of India (SBI), Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Grasim Industries, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, ITC, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestlé India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Titan Company, and Wipro.

 

NSE IPO

The National Stock Exchange is also in the process of going public with its initial public offering (IPO). The exchange, in March 2025, submitted a 16-page response to the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), addressing concerns raised by the markets regulator over its IPO readiness. NSE has also sought Sebi's permission to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for listing.

 

Notably, its counterpart BSE (erstwhile Bombay Stock Exchange) has already gone public with a listing at the NSE on February 3, 2017. 

Cutoff time for overnight schemes’ NAV revised

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday revised the cut-off timings to determine the net asset value (NAV) in case of repurchase of units in liquid and overnight schemes of mutual funds. The changes will be effective from June 1. If the application is received by 3 pm, the closing NAV of the day immediately preceding the next business day will be considered. If it comes after 3 pm, the closing NAV of the next business day will be taken.   - BS Reporter