On March 13, just a week before the markets crashed, both Sensex and Nifty recorded new highs—while the former crossed the mark of 74,000 for the first time, the latter touched the milestone of 22,500. In the bull run, powered largely by smaller segment stocks, there emerged several multibaggers, or stocks that give more than 100% returns to investors. However, while retail investors made a beeline for them, institutional investors stayed away. They stood vindicated when the markets crashed as the “froth” around overvalued stocks in the smaller segments, as Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch called it, started settling and investors lost their early gains.
In the preceding months, small-cap, mid-cap, micro-cap and small and medium enterprises segments emerged as the biggest gainers. Outlook…
