The ** NIFTY 50** is an Indian stock market index that represents the float-weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange. Nifty 50 is owned and managed by NSE Indices, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India. The Nifty 50 index was launched on 22 April 1996 with the base date of 3 November 1995. The NIFTY 50 index ecosystem consists of index funds (both onshore and offshore mutual funds and ETFs), and futures and options at NSE and NSE International Exchange (through GIFT Nifty). In 2016, NIFTY 50 was reported by the WFE and FIA as the world's most actively traded index options contract, but it was later overtaken by Nifty Bank. The NIFTY 50 index covers 13 sectors of the Indian economy and offers investment managers exposure to the Indian market in one portfolio. As of July 2024, NIFTY 50 gives a weightage of 32.76% to financial services including banking, 13.76% to information technology, 12.12% to oil and gas, 8.46% to consumer goods, and 8.22% to automotive. Total assets under management of passive funds (ETFs and index funds) in India tracking Nifty indices reached Rs 7.8 lakh crores, accounting for 73% of equity and debt passive funds’ AUM of Rs 10.7 lakh crores in India as of September 30, 2024. There are 343 passive products tracking Nifty index in India as of September 30, 2024. There are 30 ETFs and index funds and 2 ETNs tracking Nifty indices in international markets with a total AUM of ~US $5 billion as of September 30, 2024.

Methodology

The NIFTY 50 index is a free float market capitalisation-weighted index. Stocks are added to the index based on the following criteria: The index was initially calculated on a full market capitalization methodology. On 26 June 2009, the computation was changed to a free-float methodology. The base period for the NIFTY 50 index is 3 November 1995, which marked the completion of one year of operations of the equity market segment on NSE. The base value of the index has been set at 1000 and a base capital of ₹ 2.06 trillion. The index is re-balanced on semi-annual basis. The cut-off date is January 31 and July 31 every year and average data for the previous six months from the cut-off date is considered to filter stocks. A notice of 4 weeks from the date of change is given to market participants so that they can prepare for any changes.

Constituents

The Nifty 50 has the following constituents, as of 30 September 2024.

Index changes

Changes in index constituents since Nifty 50 adopted free float criteria in 2009:

Statistics

Record values

High Value Record

Major single day falls

Following are some of the notable single-day falls of the NIFTY 50 Index.

Major single day gains

Following are some of the notable single-day gains of the NIFTY 50 Index.

Annual returns

The following table shows the annual development of the NIFTY 50 since 2000. The historical daily returns data can be accessed from the NSE website.

Derivatives

Trading in futures and options on the NIFTY 50 is offered by the NSE and NSE International Exchange (NSEIX). NSE offers weekly as well as monthly expiry options. It is the second most traded index option in the world after Nifty Bank. NSE allows international traders to trade on the NIFTY 50 by GIFT NIFTY. The same index had previously operated under the name SGX Nifty, and was traded on the Singapore Exchange. It was rebranded to GIFT Nifty on 3 July 2023 and trading was moved to the NSE International Exchange (NSEIX) situated in GIFT City, Gandhinagar. The CEO of NSEIX called it a watershed moment since it was the first time India got back an international contract which had previously been exported.

NIFTY Next 50

NIFTY Next 50, also called NIFTY Junior, is an index of 50 companies whose free float market capitalisation comes after that of the companies in NIFTY 50. NIFTY Next 50 constituents are thus potential candidates for future inclusion in NIFTY 50.