Election concerns weigh as only 11 smallcaps post double-digit weekly returns

Only 11 offered double-digit during the week, with leading the way with 24% returns, followed by and that gained between 20-23%.

, , Century Enka and Dolat Algotech are some of the other that managed to hold their ground in a weak market.

In contrast, several smallcap companies delivered double-digit negative returns during the week with Sonata Software, Intellect Design, Mangalore Refinery, Surya Roshni, Chennai Petroleum, Jaiprakash Associates, Graphite India, Inox India losing the most.

In the segment, only Bharat Forge rose in double-digits with a gain of 11.56%, while Endurance Technologies, Tube Investments, Honeywell Automation, Supreme Industries and a few others managed to eke out some gains.

Around 7 companies in the midcap space, including Voltas, Torrent Power, JSW Energy, Piramal Enterprises, Canara Bank, and Power Finance lost the most.

FMCG major topped the charts in the pack with a return of 6.3%, as even the largecaps were not immune to the selloff.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel and Maruti Suzuki have made decent advances during the week and offered some safe haven to .

Analysts said despite Q4 domestic largely meeting expectations, there's a noticeable moderation in the overall earnings landscape.

What to look forward to?

Investors need to be prepared for the current volatile trend in domestic markets to continue due to election-led uncertainties. The coming week will be a data-hectic one as investors closely watch out for India and US CPI data, Europe and Japan’s GDP numbers, and the FED chair speech.

With the fourth quarter results season coming to the fag-end, there will likely be stock-specific action in some companies announcing their numbers next week.

"Overall, we expect the market to consolidate in a broader range and take cues from Q4 results, global factors and news flows around the general ," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal.

Technically, the index has broken down from the rising channel on the daily chart, indicating a rise in bearish sentiment.

"The trend is likely to remain weak in the near term, with resistance noted at 22,200. As long as the Nifty remains below this level, a strategy of selling on rallies may be favorable for traders. Support at the lower end is situated at 21,950 on a sustained basis; a decisive drop below this level could trigger panic in the market," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.

With data inputs from Ritesh Presswala

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)