Sensex has a ball, Monkeys have a fall

Will the pain ever get any better? After spending most of September and October on a high, the Monkeys, former kings of the stock market, have experienced a losing streak of late.

Last week brought no relief - again. For the week ending 2 December, it was the Sensex that grabbed the news headlines as it pocketed gains of 7.3 percent – the highest since July 2009. The Nifty also jumped by an exuberant 7.2 percent.

The next best gains were made by the brokers' portfolio -- a collection of 10 stocks from 10 brokerages – which added 6.2 percent.

Coming in last were the Monkeys: Monkey portfolio 1 - a collection of 10 randomly-selected stocks from the BSE 100 – added on 5 percent, while Monkey portfolio 2 - a selection of 10 randomly-selected stocks from the BSE 500 – gained a meagre 3.3 percent.

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Sadly, the picture isn’t very different for the period since 19 August, the date when all the portfolios were created. The Sensex and Nifty topped the Monkeys and brokers with gains of 4.2-4.4 percent.

[caption id=“attachment_147404” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“While their performance has not exactly been sterling in the past few weeks, the Monkeys are unlikely to be experiencing any sleepless nights or hyperventilating over their short-term market losses.Getty Images”]  [/caption]

The brokers were the only ones that came close to matching that performance: their portfolio advanced 2.4 percent for the 15-week period (view table). Top stock gainers included Infosys and Bajaj Auto, both of which ended about 20 percent higher

The Monkeys disappointed once again: while Monkey portfolio 1 slipped a mild 0.6 percent (view table), Monkey portfolio 2 fell flat on its face by dropping 8.4 percent (view table).

Monkey portfolio 1 was dragged down by Adani Enterprises, which shed a whopping 36 percent, and Grasim, which sank 18 percent between 19 August and 2 December.

Monkey portfolio 2 suffered because of a 47 percent drop in KSK Ventures and a 27 percent fall in VIP Industries.

While their performance has not exactly been sterling in the past few weeks, the Monkeys are unlikely to be experiencing any sleepless nights or hyperventilating over their short-term market losses. Both of them like to think long-term and keep the big picture in mind. Monkey 1, especially, will be stocking up on his favourite brain food, bananas, to help him keep calm and centred.

What new challenges does Lady Luck have in store for our simians next week? Come back and find out.