Midcaps likely to hog limelight in 2021

Midcaps that rose nearly 20 percent in 2020 could remain investors' favourite in 2021 supported by macro recovery and valuation comfort, suggest experts. Midcaps rebounded in 2020 after two years of underperformance against benchmark indices. In CY20, the Nifty midcap gained 22 percent compared to Nifty’s 15 percent rise. Over the last five years, midcaps underperformed by nearly 20 percent. Nifty Mid-cap100 P/E is now at a 16 percent premium to large caps at 24.7x vs 11.9x in Mar 2020, per a report. Another big factor in favour of mid & small-caps is the interest rate environment. Small and mid-cap companies stand to benefit the most in a low interest-rate environment, suggest experts.