Nifty shows a relatively positive seasonality in March; FMCG outperformed sectorally: JM Financial

Though triggered by a better-than-expected domestic Q3 GDP print and resilient global market landscape, today’s all-time high finds sync with equity markets' historical month in March.
 
JM Financial, in its report, said that its study of seasonality pertains to the consistent pattern of price returns that the underlying asset shows throughout the month.
 
Further, it said that its analysis showed that in March, Nifty has shown a relatively positive seasonality.
 
In the last 10 years, the headline index Nifty has closed in the green on 7 occasions with an average return of 0.3 per cent. If we ignore the significant meltdown of 22 per cent, the gains come at an average of 2.9 per cent.
 
The broader markets, typically the Nifty Midcap index, have served investors even better and outperformed the headline Nifty, noted the brokerage in its report released on February 29, 2024.
 
The brokerage pin-pointed that Nifty Midcap has closed in the green on six occasions with an average return of 0.5 per cent, nevertheless, the sharp sell-off in 2020, the average return of the index comes to be 3.9 per cent.
 
Besides, in its sectoral analysis, the brokerage underscored that Nifty FMCG closed in the green on seven occasions, while in contrast, Nifty Auto closed in the red on seven occasions.
 
While comparing the sectoral performance in contrast to Nifty, the brokerage said that NSE MNC has outperformed on seven occasions with an average return of 0.4 per cent, while NSE Auto underperformed on seven occasions with an average underperformance of 2.8 per cent.
 
Investment strategies focus on buying recommendations for NIFTY-noted Mehta Equities' Prashanth Tapse.
 
The impressive GDP numbers provide fundamental support to the bull market and also comfort on the valuation front, nonetheless, what shall be watchful is- will the FMCG pack come out strong this month given the tepid private consumption figures?