What are sectoral indices, and how do they differ from broad market indices?
Sectoral indices track stocks from a particular stock. However, broad market indices like Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex track the wider corporate sector.
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The stock market consists of thousands of listed companies, making it difficult to track individual stock movements. If you want to assess how a specific sector is performing, checking the stock prices of all listed companies in that industry is impractical. Instead, NSE sectoral indices provide a streamlined solution by representing the collective performance of stocks within a sector.
Sectoral indices act as benchmarks for different industries, such as banking, IT, healthcare, and FMCG, helping investors analyse market trends and make informed decisions. These indices are designed based on specific criteria, including market capitalization and liquidity, ensuring accurate sectoral representation.
Read this blog as we take a deep dive into the types of NSE sectoral indices and their significance in stock market analysis.
A stock market index is a portfolio of stocks, which are selected based on predefined criteria. Understandably, the selection of stocks is the most important step in building an index.
Stock selection depends upon the objective of building an index. For example, if your objective is to build an index that tracks the larger corporate sector in India, you should select stocks of the biggest and most reputed companies from India Inc.
Once stocks are selected, a certain weightage is applied to them. The criteria for determining the weightage could vary from index to index. Then, the index’s values are calculated based on a base year and a base value.
When an index goes up or down, it helps traders understand how its constituent stocks are performing. For example, if you track the largest indices in India, like Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, you will be able to gauge how the stocks of the biggest listed companies in India are performing.
What Do You Mean by Sectoral Indices?
A sectoral index is made up of stocks from a specific industry or sector. Hence, it reflects the performance of companies belonging to that sector. For example, the Nifty Bank Index is made up of stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, etc.
So, if on a trading day, you want to see how the top banking stocks in India are performing, you should observe the movements of the Nifty Bank Index. Similarly, if you want to see how real-estate companies are doing, you should track the Nifty Realty Index, which comprises stocks like DLF, Phoenix Mills, Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty, etc.
NSE Sectoral Indices track the performance of the most important sectors of India. Please go through the following table to learn more about them.
Index | Industry | Description |
Banking (including public sector and private sector banks) | This index is made up of some of the largest and most liquid banking stocks, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, etc. | |
Automobiles | This index shows the performance of the leading auto stocks. Some of its constituents include Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, etc. | |
Financial Sector | This index depicts the performance of a wide variety of stocks belonging to the financial sector, like banks, housing finance, financial institutions, insurance companies, etc. | |
Nifty Financial Services 25/50 Index | Financial Sector | This index is made up of the same stocks as the Nifty Financial Services Index. However, here, 25 means the maximum weightage of a single stock in the index and 50 means the maximum aggregate weightage for all those stocks with an individual weight of more than 5%. |
Nifty Financial Services Ex Bank | Financial Sector (excluding banks) | This index tracks the performance of stocks from the financial sector, except banks. |
FMCG | This index is made up of stocks belonging to the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, which manufactures packaged food, non-alcoholic drinks, etc. | |
Healthcare | This index tracks the performance of healthcare stocks belonging to sectors like pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and diagnostics. | |
IT | Its constituent stocks include some of the largest, most reputed, and highly liquid IT stocks from India, like Infosys, TCS, etc. | |
Media & Entertainment | Its constituent stocks include companies from media, entertainment, printing, and publishing sectors. | |
Metals (including Mining) | This index tracks stocks from the metals and mining industry of India. | |
Pharmaceuticals | This index includes stocks of leading pharma companies from the country. | |
Private Banks | It tracks the performance of top private sector banks in India. | |
Public Sector Banks | It tracks the performance of leading public sector banks. | |
Real Estate | This index is made up of stocks from the real-estate sector. | |
Consumer Durables | This index’s constituents include consumer durable companies like Titan, Voltas, Dixon Technologies, etc. | |
Oil and Gas | This index tracks leading stocks from oil, gas, & petroleum industries, like Reliance Industries, ONGC, GAIL, etc. | |
Nifty MidSmall Financial Services Index | Financial Services | Its constituents include mid-cap and small-cap stocks from the financial services industry. |
Nifty MidSmall Healthcare Index | Healthcare | This index is made up of mid-cap and small-cap stocks from the healthcare sector. |
Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom Index | IT & Telecom | This index tracks the performance of mid-cap and small-cap stocks from IT and telecom sectors. |
If a stock wants to be included in a Nifty sectoral index, it should meet the following criteria:
There are three ways for a retail investor to trade in any sectoral index. First, you can invest in an exchange-traded-fund (ETF) that tracks the sectoral index you are keen on. Or, you can invest in an index fund that mirrors the sectoral index you want to invest in.
By investing in an ETF or an index fund, you will have a portfolio that is almost same as the index you want to invest in. However, if you do not want to invest in an ETF or an index fund, you can also invest in a constituent stock of an index.
For example, you can invest in HDFC Bank or ICICI Bank if you want to trade in the Nifty Bank Index because both these stocks are included in this index.
Addtional Read: What is the Nifty Pharma Index
You could be keen to open a demat account or you could be an experienced investor. Regardless of the kind of investor you are, you should know about NSE sectoral indices, which can be a great starting point to analyse the stock market on a day-to-day basis.
Moreover, these indices can help you benchmark the performance of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds focusing on specific sectors, which can let you find out the best-performing funds to invest in.
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Sectoral indices track stocks from a particular stock. However, broad market indices like Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex track the wider corporate sector.
First, stocks meant to be included in sectoral indices are identified using criteria. Then, they are weighted based on the free-float market capitalization method. Then, using a base year and a base value, the values of such indices are calculated.
A sectoral index is made up of leading stocks from a certain industry. Hence, investors can invest in stocks from more than one sectoral index to diversify their portfolio. By doing this, the fortunes of their portfolio will be linked to the performance of multiple industries, which is safer than putting all their money in stocks from one index.
Popular sectoral indices in the stock market are Nifty Bank Index, Nifty Auto Index, Nifty FMCG Index, Nifty IT Index, Nifty Metal Index, and Nifty Pharma Index.
Sectoral indices reflect how stocks in a specific industry are performing, which in turn, show how companies in that industry are financially performing. Hence, sectoral indices reflect trends within specific industries.
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