Exactly six months ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown that was clear to take a harsh economic toll even as it was needed to combat the rising menace of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Coincidentally, it was also exactly six months ago, on March 24, when the stock market bottomed out following a crash that wiped out 35 percent from the index in less than a month.

But while the market bottom became clear only in hindsight, stocks globally appeared to have disconnected themselves from economic fundamentals, with several indices making a fresh lifetime high.

For those who missed out on the action, here's a recap.

Sectoral moves

Nifty Midcap 100 gained around 53 percent while Nifty Smallcap100 gained over 76 percent from the low levels hit in March this year.

Nifty Bank rose over 31 percent since March lows but is still down 33.95 percent YTD.

Nifty Pharma remains the best performing sector amid the pandemic. The index is up 88 percent since March and 46.77 percent YTD.

Nifty IT surged more than 82 percent since March lows while its YTD gains are over 28 percent.

Nifty Metal is still down 21.37 percent YTD but has recovered 48 percent in the last six months.

FMCG is one of the least impacted sectors. The Nifty FMCG index has gained over 29 percent since March and is down by only 2.61 percent YTD.

Nifty Media jumped 53 percent since March but is down 17.48 percent YTD.

Nifty Realty has failed to recover much as the real estate sector has been impacted by a sustained slowdown in the economy and then the pandemic crisis. The index is up 27 percent since March and down 29.09 percent YTD.

Stocks that moved the most

Among some blue chips stocks, Reliance Industries stood as one of the biggest gainers, more than doubling the investor money in the last six months, on the back of a slew of investments in its digital and retail arms from global tech and private equity companies. Reliance Industries’ shares have gained over 150 percent.

Aurobindo Pharma rallied over 164 percent while Cipla surged 105 percent and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories gained more than 85 percent.

IT stocks followed the pharma names in terms of returns in the last six years. HCL Technologies gained 95 percent, Infosys surged over 94 percent and Wipro rallied 85 percent.

Lupin and Divis Laboratories followed with gains of almost 72 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

Witnessing a pent up demand, the automobile sector and auto component sector also drove along with the upmove in the markets. Mahindra & Mahindra shares advanced over 108 percent with Motherson Sumi Systems gaining 105 percent. Tata Motors rallied 92 percent followed by Hero MotorCorp with 83 percent gains.

Among banks and NBFCs, in the last six months, the shares of country’s largest lender State Bank of India remained flat, Bank of Baroda fell 23 percent and Punjab National Bank declined over 17 percent.

Among private banks, IndusInd Bank rallied over 56 percent, Axis Bank 38 percent, HDFC Bank 36 percent and ICICI Bank 23 percent. Mortgage lender HDFC gained 9.6 percent.

Foreign capital flow

The sharp sell-off in the Indian market was primarily led by a massive foreign capital outflow of over Rs 1 lakh crore in March 2020, triggered by fears of a global recession amid the coronavirus lockdown and slump in economic activity. After remaining net buyers for six consecutive months, the Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) pulled out more than Rs 1.22 lakh crore in March.

The FII selling continued in April and May with outflows of over Rs 14,000 crore and Rs 7,000 crore, respectively.

However, with the gradual opening up of economic activities, the foreign capital inflows increased and domestic equity markets picked up the pace.

The FIIs turned positive in emerging markets especially in India from June to September till date. The FPI inflows in Indian markets in August stood as high as Rs 49,879 crore.

Analysts believe that the recent share sale by many listed companies and reducing interest rates have attracted the foreign investors’ money into Indian equities.