(Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks were little changed as investors watched for signs that a record-breaking rally could broaden out beyond a handful of large companies.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.04% to 41,588 at the close in Mumbai. The NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.1%. While the Sensex has recovered from a mid-year slump to deliver a roughly 15% return in 2019, the S&P BSE Midcap Index is down about 3%.
Investors have continued to prize perceived “high-quality” stocks of established companies that dominate their industries, as they are regarded as safer bets at a time when India's economy is growing at the slowest pace in six years. A potential revival in gross domestic product expansion in 2020 is widely expected to reverse this trend.
Strategist View
“We are watching out for the broadening out of the rally, which we expect to happen in the first half of 2020,” said Amit Khurana, director of research at Dolat Capital Market, “The moment fund managers find the risk-reward to be more favorable for mid and small caps, they will start investing in them.”
The Numbers
- Fourteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. climbed, led by a gauge of automotive companies.
- Eighteen Sensex shares rose, 12 fell.
- HDFC Bank contributed most the benchmark index advance with a 0.5% gain. Nestle India had the biggest jump, rising 1.5%. ICICI Bank was the biggest drag on the index and lost the most, falling 1%.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Ronojoy Mazumdar in Mumbai at rmazumdar7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Naoto Hosoda, Kurt Schussler
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