2024 Review: How NIFTY50, SENSEX, gold, fixed deposits and various other asset classes performed

Indian investors witnessed yet another exceptional year in 2024. It was truly a record-setting year for the Indian markets, with several hits and few misses. As 2024 comes to a close, many investors may be thinking about their portfolio performance and whether it was able to give a high return compared to other asset classes.

Let’s help you in this process by giving insights into the returns generated by various assets, from equities to gold, in the last 12 months.

NIFTY50 & SENSEX rise over 8% in 2024

Benchmark NIFTY50 and SENSEX gave positive returns for the 9th consecutive year. In 2024, NIFTY50 closed with an 8.80% return, while SENSEX rose 8.17%. In September 2024, NIFTY50 set an all-time high of 26,277, while the 52-week high for SENSEX stood at 85,978.

Indian markets saw two distinct halves in 2024. In the first half of the year, equities delivered strong returns amid robust economic activity, corporate earnings and the formation of a stable government third consecutive time.

Meanwhile, in the second half of 2024, Indian markets witnessed heightened volatility amid a record sell-off by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs sold equities worth over ₹1.77 lakh crore in the last three months. Besides this, disappointing Q2 earnings by India Inc. and a slowdown in GDP growth further dampened investor sentiments.

Experts predict that Indian markets may bounce back again in 2025, aided by earnings recovery in the second half of FY25. Increased rural spending, a buoyant wedding season, and a pickup in government spending could support market sentiments.

Top three NIFTY50 gainers & losers

Top three SENSEX gainers & losers

Gold delivered better return than equities

International gold prices have jumped 26.3% in 2024, while silver prices have jumped close to 22% in the same period. Meanwhile, in the domestic markets, gold prices rose over 21% in 2024 as a higher US dollar led to lower returns in rupee terms.

In domestic markets, 24-karat gold stood at ₹7,756 per gram or ₹77,560 per 10 gram on December 31, compared to 63,820 per 10 grams at the start of 2024, rising 21.01% during the period.

As per experts, gold and silver performed better than equities in 2024, driven by central bank buying, policy easing, and prolonged geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and between Russia-Ukraine, which again escalated in H2 2024, helping propel precious metals prices higher.

Looking ahead, the outlook for gold remains positive. Precious metals will continue to attract investors as safe-haven assets amid inflation concerns and central bank policies. A rise in geopolitical tensions could provide additional support.

Fixed deposit interest rates in 2024

Major banks revised their fixed deposit (FD) rates upwards in the middle of 2024 to boost their deposit base. In July 2024, India’s leading private bank, HDFC Bank, increased fixed deposit interest rates by up to 20 basis points. One-year fixed deposit with HDFC Bank carried a rate of interest (RoI) of 6.60% for deposits of less than ₹3 crore, while it was 7.10% for the senior citizen. Deposits between ₹3 to ₹5 crore attracted RoI of 7.40% and 7.90%.

In May, top public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) also raised the interest rates it offers on retail term deposits of up to ₹2 crore. Deposits with tenors of 211 days to less than a year attracted 6.25% interest as against 6% earlier, while for senior citizens, it was raised to 6.75%.

Government 10-year bond yield

India’s 10-year bond yield settled around 6.77% on December 31, 2024, compared to 7.14% at the end of calendar year 2023. In terms of percentage, this translated into a decline of 5.4%. Indian government bond yields were seen dipping in the second half of the year due to weaker-than-expected economic growth data. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 5.4% in July-September compared with a year ago, marking the slowest pace in seven quarters.

Interest rates on various savings scheme

The annual interest rate on employee provident fund (EPF) deposits was raised to 8.25% for the financial year 2023-24 compared to 8.15% in the previous financial year.

Deposits under the Sukanya Samriddhi scheme attract an interest rate of 8.2% currently, compared to an interest rate of 8% it was attracting at 2023-end.

The interest rate for the Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme has remained unchanged at 7.1% for the last 19 quarters, starting from the first quarter of FY 2020-21.

In a major change this year, the central government announced through a notification that it will stop paying interest on National Savings Scheme (NSS) accounts from November 1. The NSS interest rate for the period from March 1, 2003, to September 30, 2024, was 7.5% per annum. Depositors were advised to withdraw their money by September 30.

From the above comparison of various asset classes, precious metals gold and silver delivered the best returns in 2024, followed by equities markets. Having said that, stock market returns have been more consistent over the period as NIFTY50 delivered positive returns for the 9th consecutive year.