According to statistics published by JM Financial, the Nifty Midcap index has shown high seasonality in April during the last ten years, with the index posting positive returns in eight of the ten Aprils. This time, the index has a strong possibility of surpassing the largecap benchmark Nifty, if past performance is any indication.
Nine times in the last ten Aprils, the midcap index beat the Nifty, with an average difference of 1.4%. Over the course of ten years, the Nifty Midcap index returned an average of 3.7%.
Conversely, over the past ten Aprils, Nifty has yielded an average return of 2.3%. Six times the index closed higher.
The Nifty Auto index, which had an average return of 4.5 percent and ended higher on eight occasions, had the highest seasonality among industry indexes. Over the past ten Aprils, the Nifty Bank, Nifty Metals, Nifty Energy, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty CPSE have all returned an average of three to six percent; each of these indexes has settled higher seven times.
April's sectoral performance has been the weakest for the Nifty IT index. Eight times out of ten, this index saw a decline, with an average underperformance of 2.8%.
Indiamart Intermesh, GNFC, JSW Steel, Deepak Nitrite, Divis Labs, Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finserv, and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among the F&O equities that have finished in positive territory nine or more times in the last ten Aprils. These equities yielded returns that were on average more than five percent.
Two equities that have had negative seasonality and have settled lower seven or more times are Alkem Laboratories and Infosys.