Nifty's 2018 gains gone, but these 9 stocks beat the blues

Stocks got a taste of pain in September-October when selling took on severe proportions. But December brought another piece of bad news.

The selloff was so acute that all of Nifty's 2018 gains went up in smoke. The index hit an intraday low of 10,486 on Monday against a close of 10,530.70 on December 29 last year.

Exit poll jitters drowned market sentiment on Monday ahead of the outcome of the just-concluded state elections on Tuesday. A weakening rupee, oil rebound and a flare-up in US-China trade tensions kept Dalal Street on a knife edge. The Sensex was over 500 points down at 35,129 at around 11.55 am.

In the face of such pain, nine stocks on the NSE held their ground by rallying over 100 per cent this calendar year. Take Electrosteel Steels, which surged the most by 527 per cent so far this year. GSS Infotech, Birla Cable, Responsive Industries, Merck, Excel Industries, Tijaria Polypipes, SPL Industries and IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals went up 100-330 per cent during the same period.

Kilitch Drugs, V-Mart retail, HEG, VIP Industries, Tata Consultancy Services and Vinati Organics rose 45-90 per cent this year.

In sync with the broader trend, Ashapura Intimates Fashion, Bombay Rayon, Kwality Ltd, Vakrangee, Talwalkars Better Value Fitness, PC Jeweller and IL&FS Transportation slipped over 80 per cent during the year.

The BSE Sensex suffered a loss of 521 points, or 1.44 per cent at 35,673.25 last week while the NSE Nifty came off 183.05 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 10,693.70 during the past five trading sessions.

The real headache is volatility was not limited to Indian equities this year. Bond yields remained unpredictable in response to sharp movements in crude oil prices and growing global uncertainties. Global equities, especially those of emerging markets, have also seen some selling pressure because of monetary tightening in the US and the trade war between the US and China.

Next year is quite critical for India, given the general elections in May-June, which will be the litmus test for the Narendra Modi government. Volatility is likely to mark trading in the run-up to the elections that are expected to be fought fiercely with no punches held back, according to Sharekhan.