Only 6 stocks responsible for nearly 60% of Nifty’s 1,550-point rise

markets

Indian equities are firing on all cylinders, even if the party feels oddly selective. On Thursday, the benchmark Nifty 50 briefly vaulted past its all-time high, rising as much as 0.7 percent to touch 26,246.65 and surpassing its previous peak set in September 2024. Although the index later shed part of its gains, it still closed 0.5 percent higher, while the BSE Sensex ended the day barely 350 away from its own record.

Yet the headline numbers mask the real story. Unlike previous bull runs, this surge is anything but broad-based. Mid- and small-cap counters remain under strain, with the BSE MidCap index still about 5 percent below its record high and the BSE SmallCap lagging even further, nearly 9 percent short of its all-time peak.

Even within the frontline Nifty pack, the rally rests on the shoulders of just a few heavyweight stocks, leaving the broader market noticeably subdued.

Since the rally kicked off in early October, the Nifty has surged 1,550 points—an increase of roughly 6 percent—but the bulk of that climb has come from a remarkably small group of stocks.

Just six heavyweights — Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T and Axis Bank — have powered nearly 60 percent of the index’s gains, while the next seven — Infosys, Shriram Finance, HCL Tech, TCS, M&M, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints — collectively added another 27 percent.

The rest of the pack barely moved the needle. Half of the Nifty’s constituents contributed only 15 percent of the overall rise. Within this group, 15 stocks added merely single-digit points to the index, while another 11 offered modest support of between 10 and 50 points each.

The performance gap becomes even sharper when considering that 11 Nifty stocks — including Eicher Motors, Tata Motors’ Passenger Vehicle, HUL, NTPC and Trent etc — actually declined during the same period.

The result is a market hitting new highs with only a sliver of stocks powering the ascent—leaving much of the investor community watching the celebration from the sidelines rather than taking part in it.

Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.