Street's happier when the times are less taxing

Broader markets have underperformed since January 2018 after the imposition of long term capital gains tax triggered a sharp correction. More than 18 months later another tax change may have sparked a different kind of race.

Since the beginning of September, BSE500 and BSE MidCap indices have outperformed the Sensex, while BSE SmallCap has equalled the Sensex return. This is in contrast to the way broader markets behaved in the period from the January 2018 to the end of August 2019.

Although the Sensex gained over 10 per cent, most stocks outside the Sensex 30 were in the red. For instance, BSE500, BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap indices fell 5 per cent, 25 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively during the same period.


Of the BSE500, 390 stocks (near 80 per cent in the list) gave zero or negative returns during that period. But in the last two months 380 are in the green.