30% of BSE 500 companies now trading at 40% discount to their 52-week highs

Mid- and small-cap stocks have fallen more sharply than bluechips in the recent sell off. While the Sensex has fallen about 17% from its yearly high on March 4, 2015 about 30% of the stocks in the BSE 500 index are currently trading 40% below their 52-week high levels.

Some have lost nearly their entire valuation in the last few months. A majority of these stocks belong to metal and banking sectors, while some are from capital goods, realty and power. Large-cap stocks Jindal Steel, Vedanta, Hindalco, Bank of India, Tata Steel and Cairn, among others, are currently trading over 60% below their 52-week highs. Analysts expect sectors like metal to take a few more quarters to recover. “We continue to expect major steel firms to report operational losses during Q2FY16, given the decline in global prices,” said Ashish Kejriwal, analyst at Elara Capital. “Even if the safeguard duty of 20% (probable) gets implemented, the effect of it will be reflected in Q3FY16.”