Money on the markets

Small-cap stocks trade firm in a lacklustre market

The BSE Small-Cap Index gained over 1 percent on Wednesday even as the overall market ended weak, with the Sensex slipping 58 points.

Topping the index was Nitin Fire, which jumped 20 percent in trade. Eight stocks in the index gained over 10 percent.

The small-cap stocks have rewarded investors well in 2009, with the index gaining 125 percent so far. This is higher than the return of mid-cap index which has gained 107 percent during the period.

Seeing the performance in the space, would you be willing to invest in such stocks?

Small caps shine

The BSE Small-cap index gained over 4 percent in Thursday’s market rally with stocks such as Firstsource Solutions and SpiceJet gaining over 12 and 10 percent respectively.

From the 463 stocks in the small cap index, around 30 posted double-digit gains, data from Thomson Reuters showed.

Firstsource Solutions, a company involved in IT-enabled services, was the top traded counter of the day. Its stock has jumped by 153 percent in 2009.

The small cap index has been on a roll and has gained 96 percent since April this year, beating its mid-cap counterpart.

But small cap stocks are generally considered more risky when compared to large or mid-cap counters.

Do you think your investment portfolio should contain such stocks to cash in on their rise?

Sensex gains in choppy trade

The BSE Sensex ended 0.69 percent higher on short-covering ahead of the monthly derivatives expiry. Gains were capped by worries about the health of the global economy.

Trade was volatile and the 30-share sensitive index swung from an intra-day low of 14,207 to an intra-day high of 14,479 and closed 98 points higher at 14,422. The fifty-share Nifty ended 1.08 percent up at 4,293.

The BSE Mid-cap Index gained 2.38 pct, while the BSE Small-cap Index ended 2.26 pct higher.

The rise in the benchmark was led by L&T, ONGC, BHEL and JP Associates.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Power Index gained 2.82 percent, followed by the Capital Goods Index which ended 2.52 percent higher. However, the BSE Banking Index closed 0.12 percent lower.

On the global front, Asian stocks recovered ahead of the US Federal Reserve meet later today.

FIIs sold net $134.6 million in shares and bought $47.4 million in debt.