Almost all sectors performed decently barring the pharmaceutical sector which made negative returns
2017 has turned out to be a major wealth creating year for investors. Chances are, if you would have picked any sector randomly the last year, you would have had a 95% chance to make a tidy fortune for yourself. The only straw in the wealth creating year of 2017 has been pharmaceuticals, which delivered a negative return of -5.2 percent.
However, all the other major sectors and indices delivered returns ranging from a low of 14-114 percent the last year. Even if you would have bet on the IT sector, chances are you would have made at least 14 percent the last year.
The Nifty Realty Index, however, turbo-charged the year with fabulous returns of 114.4 percent topping the charts with massive outperformance. S&P BSE Small Index followed up in the number two spot with returns of 62.4 percent, while Nifty Free Float Small Cap 100 index delivered returns of 60.6 percent.
By contrast, it has been a dull year in returns for fixed deposit investors. Returns in bank deposits have been trending lower with the one-year fixed deposit dropping in yields to investors at about 7 percent.
For fortune hunters, sectors like telecom, MNC, Banks, Oil and Gas and Infrastructure and even the IPO markets have been wealth creation darlings. The S&P BSE Telecom Index delivered returns of 52.2 percent, while the Nifty Metal Index turbo zoomed with 51 percent returns, while the MNC Index outshone with returns of 56.06 percent.
Initial Public Offerings too were among the segments that delivered stupendous returns. The S&P BSE IPO index surged 46.6 percent. The Nifty Commodity Index and the S&P BSE Oil and Gas Index zoomed with returns of 38.2 and 37.3 percent returns respectively.
Even the laggard sectors of last year such as IT, PSUs and PSU banks rounded off a good year for investors with returns of 14.3, 19.1 and 25.5 percent returns respectively.
The only sector that did not deliver in 2017 turns out to be pharmaceuticals. The pharma business has been seeing a structural changes in business dynamics the last year.
