Four Stocks That Cushioned Nifty In January

Seven of every 10 Nifty 50 stocks fell in January, including the HDFC twins that have the highest weight on the benchmark. Still, the index managed to recover most of the losses to end the month only marginally lower compared with a steeper fall in the broader market.

Four heavyweight stocks cushioned the benchmark as it ended 0.3 percent lower compared with a 4.8 percent drop in Nifty Smallcap 100 Index and a 5.5 percent fall in Nifty Midcap 100 Index. These are Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy Service Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and Infosys Ltd.

Index heavyweights supported the benchmark even last year, helping Nifty 50 ending higher. But that masked the steep decline in the broader indices. The trend continued in January with RIL, Infosys, Axis Bank and TCS contributing the maximum points to the recovery.

Five Nifty 50 stocks dropped more than 15 percent and 10 fell more than 10 percent during the month.