Independence Day 2023: The benchmark Nifty index has rallied 9.81% since last year’s Independence Day, with ITC and Larsen & Toubro among the top performing stocks, while the worst performers include UPL, Adani Enterprises and Infosys.
Independence Day 2023: India is celebrating its 77th Independence day on 15th August 2023 i.e. on Tuesday. In his Independence day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will become the world’s third largest economy in five years.
Looking at the year gone by, Indian stock market investors may have a reason for cheer. The benchmark index Nifty has rallied 9.81 since last year’s Independence day, or since 15th August 2022. The BSE Sensex has surged 10% during the last one year. The market capitalization of all the listed companies on BSE swelled to ₹309.09 lakh crore as on 15th August 2023 from ₹275.03 lakh crore on the Independence day last year.
Let us check the top best and worst performing stocks among Nifty constituents since last Independence day, which is during Independence Day 2022 to Independence Day 2023.
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ITC
ITC, the diversified conglomerate, is the best performing stock in the Nifty index over the last one year. ITC share price has delivered 45.58% returns in the last one year period. ITC shares have been on a stellar rally amid improved fundamentals, optimism over demerger of hotels business and growth in all segments, including cigarette, FMCG and Paperboards and Packaging businesses. ITC stock hit a 52-week high of ₹499.70 on July 24, 2023.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
The engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) stands at number two in the list of top performing stocks in the last one year. L&T share price has jumped 44.05% since last year’s Independence day till Independence day 2023.
L&T has been reporting strong earnings led by robust execution and better ordering activity. Analysts are positive on the stock amid the company’s record order book with healthy order pipeline and revival in private capex.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
Pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories shares have gained 36.67% in the last one year. Dr Reddy’s share price ended at ₹5,812.05 apiece on Monday, a day before Independence day 2023. The stock touched its 52-week high of ₹5,916.65 apiece on August 10, 2023. The drug maker boasts a market capitalisation of ₹96,921.25 crore.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories recently delivered a strong beat on earnings for Q1FY24, led by an uptick in North America (NA) base business, reduced intensity of price erosion and favorable seasonality in the Russian segment.
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NTPC
The state-run power generating company NTPC has also witnessed strong gains since last Independence day. NTPC shares have rallied 34.38% in the last one year period.
NTPC has an installed thermal capacity of 59GW as on 30th June, 2023. Its installed renewable energy (RE) capacity stands at 3.3GW with another 5.9GW under construction. Analysts believe the company is best placed for success in India’s energy transition and it is poised for leadership in India’s renewables market.
India has a target of 60GW+ renewables by FY32. Analysts are positive on the stock given its visible pipeline of 16.7GW RE projects, competitive advantage on debt cost at around 6% and diversity in initiatives across RE value chain like Hydrogen.
IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank share price has gained 28.55% since last Independence day to this year’s Independence day. IndusInd Bank is a major financier for vehicles and property in its consumer finance division. The private lender’s corporate banking division also offers a wide range of products to SMEs and large enterprises.
IndusInd Bank has 2,606 branches as of June 2023, and it aims to expand its branch network by adding 250-300 branches by the end of FY24. The lender has a solid balance sheet with improved loan growth and healthier asset quality across all verticals.
The bank’s continuous development of digitalisation, better CASA mix, and new acquisitions or expansions should continue to support its earnings potential in the long run, analysts at Geojit Financial Services said.
These were the top 5 best performing stocks on Nifty during the last one year. Let us now check out the list of top worst performing stocks on Nifty from the last Independence day to this year Independence day 2023.
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UPL
Agrochemicals major UPL has been the worst performing stock on the Nifty index during the last one year. UPL share price has fallen 25.17% since the last Independence day. UPL shares are also at their 52-week low of ₹586.00 apiece on the NSE.
The recently released UPL Q1 results were weak and below analysts’ estimates. The company’s subdued performance was largely on the back of significant decline in non-selective herbicides volume, product specific bans in Europe and higher channel destocking coupled with aggressive price competition from China.
Adani Enterprises
Adani Enterprises shares have plunged 14.26% in the last one year period. The major fall in Adani Group flagship company, Adani Enterprises shares came after the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, in its report released in January this year, alleged the Gautam Adani-led group of “brazen accounting fraud” and “stock manipulation”.
Even though the Adani Group has, at times, denied the allegations and rejected the report terming it “unresearched” and “maliciously mischievous”, it triggered a massive rout of Adani group stocks, which lost over $140 billion in days and forced the cancellation of a ₹20,000 crore share sale in the group’s flagship company.
Adani Ent shares touched a 52-week high of ₹4,190.00 on December 21, 2020, and a 52-week low of ₹1,017.45 on February 3, 2023.
Infosys
The second largest IT services company in India, Infosys, has delivered negative returns in the last one year period. Infosys share price has fallen 12.58% during this period. The company has recently weak set of results for the first quarter of FY24 with the management lowering guidance.
The low probability event recurred in successive quarters with a guidance cut (three times in Q1 in the last 14 years) following a sequential revenue drop (eight times in the last sixty quarters) in the previous quarter for Infosys, analysts at HDFC Securities said. However, analysts are still positive on Infosys stock for a long term perspective.
Asian Paints
Asian Paints shares have dropped 6.57% since the last Independence day. It is the fourth worst performer on the Nifty during the last one year period. Asian Paints stock hit a 52-week high of ₹3,582.90 on September 28, 2022, and a 52-week low of ₹2,685.85 on January 27, 2023.
Bajaj Finserv
Bajaj Finserv share price has given negative returns of 5.99% in the last one year. Bajaj Finserv is the holding company of non-banking financial company (NBFC) Bajaj Finance.
Bajaj Finserv shares ended at ₹1,478 apiece on Monday with a market capitalisation of ₹2,35,813.24 crore on the NSE. The stock touched a 52-week low of ₹1,215.00 on March 28, 2023, and a 52-week high of ₹1,844 apiece on September 13, 2022.
