Midcap rally continues: Nifty Midcap 100 marks second record high in November; IRB Infra, Hero MotoCorp, Nykaa among top drivers

As equity benchmark indices continued their upward momentum on Monday, November 17, the broader market also traded firmly in positive territory.

Rising nearly 1%, the Nifty Midcap 100 hit its all-time high of 61,194.20 during the intraday period. At 1:40 PM, the index was trading 0.72% higher at the 61,177.95 level. This is the second time in November that the index has hit a record high, the earlier being on November 13, when it touched 61,011 points.

Over the past month, the index has gained 4%, while rising more than 7% over the last six months. On a one-year basis, it has delivered a strong return of over 13%.

At the time of writing the article, as many as 70 stocks on the index were trading higher, while 29 were down.

In comparison, the NIFTY50 index has risen 1% over the past month, gained 4% in the last six months, and advanced 10.5% over the past year.

The rally in midcap stocks comes as these companies outperformed during an otherwise muted quarter. NIFTY recorded single-digit earnings growth for the sixth straight quarter since the pandemic, while midcaps continued their strong momentum, delivering 34% year-on-year (YoY) earnings growth. Several mid-cap sectors posted impressive performance, further boosting investors’ sentiment.

According to Ace Equity data, among the 80 Nifty Midcap 100 companies that declared Q2 results, revenue grew 7% YoY, while profit after tax surged 27% YoY. In comparison, 45 NIFTY50 companies that have reported so far posted a 10.4% YoY rise in profit.

Stocks driving the rally

On the Nifty Midcap 100, shares of IRB Infrastructure Developers were the biggest contributor, jumping 4.96%, followed by Hero MotoCorp (4.08%), PB Fintech (3.43%), YES Bank (2.93%) and Nykaa parent FSN E-Commerce Ventures (2.83%).

Further, Marico (2.64%), AU Small Finance Bank (2.58%), Hudco (2.47%), Cummins India (2.38%), Indian Bank (2.32%) and Paytm (2.27%) were the other top gainers on the index.

Shares of IRB rallied 7% to touch an intraday high of ₹45.95 apiece on Monday as IRB Infrastructure Trust secured orders from NHAI in Uttar Pradesh for an upfront consideration of ₹9,270 crore.

Hero MotoCorp shares hit a 52-week high of ₹5,780 apiece on NSE as analysts turned bullish towards the firm after its September quarter earnings.  

Meanwhile, over the past month, Vodafone Idea (25.6%), Hitachi Energy (23.5%), BHEL (22.8%), Indus Towers (19.7%), and Bank of India (19.6%) emerged as the top gainers on the Nifty Midcap 100 index.