In CY17, investors got to make some serious money. As many as 131 stocks from the BSE-NSE combined universe, with a market cap of over Rs.500 crore at the beginning of the year, doubled or gave higher return year-till-date (as on Nov 30th). The number could be even higher, as there is still a month to go before the year ends. Contrast this with whole of CY16, when only 13 stocks more than doubled. Indiabulls Ventures is the biggest gainer, rocketing 13 times. The company, which houses the broking and consumer finance business of the Indiabulls group, has been on a dream run amid the growing buzz around financialisation of the economy. Graphite stocks, HEG and Graphite India, were next in terms of performance, gaining 11.66 times and 8.18 times, respectively. The momentum in these stocks was supported by a sudden surge in demand for electrodes as steelmakers ramped up their production. China’s efforts to curb pollution hurt production of electrodes, which along with shortage of needle coke, kept the prices higher. Poultry products player, Venky's, and carbon products manufacturer, Rain Industries, were among the other top performers of the year, gaining close to 7 times.
