23 October 2026. The Nifty 50 — measured here through the NAVs of 22 Nifty 50 index funds — fell 0.38%, mid caps (Nifty Midcap 150 funds) moved −2.06% and small caps (Nifty Smallcap 250 funds) −2.79%. Not one of the 578 equity schemes we track closed higher — a fall that reached every corner of the market. Over the past week the Nifty 50 measure is −1.71%, over one month −3.58% and since the start of the year −12.80%.
How big was that? Over the past year the Nifty 50 measure’s daily move was smaller than today’s on 38% of trading days — an ordinary-sized day. Keeping that in proportion matters: most single-day moves, however loud the headlines, are well inside the normal range.
The day in numbers
| Measure (via fund NAVs) | 1 day | 1 week | 1 month | Year to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | −0.38% | −1.71% | −3.58% | −12.80% |
| Nifty Next 50 | −2.24% | −4.12% | −9.13% | −4.52% |
| Nifty Midcap 150 | −2.06% | −5.34% | −10.21% | −7.35% |
| Nifty Smallcap 250 | −2.79% | −7.04% | −11.15% | −1.78% |
| Nifty Bank | −1.16% | −2.73% | −4.02% | −8.49% |
| Gold (gold funds) | −1.26% | −3.29% | −7.14% | +5.13% |
| Silver (silver funds) | −3.26% | −6.99% | −16.46% | −15.09% |
Each line is the median of all Direct Growth index funds or fund-of-funds tracking that market, so it sits within a few basis points of the index itself (the gap is mostly the funds’ expense ratios).
Large caps, mid caps and small caps
Small-cap funds moved more than large-cap funds (−2.18% against −0.74%). This pattern is common: shares of smaller companies tend to swing more than the market in both directions, because they trade less, carry more business risk and are more sensitive to changes in sentiment. A bigger move on the way up usually comes with bigger falls on the way down.
Which equity categories moved most
Among equity categories, Large cap funds had the strongest day (median −0.74%) and Small cap the weakest (−2.18%). A category figure is the median fund in it, not an average weighted by size, so one unusual fund cannot drag it around. Sectoral and thematic funds are the widest-spread group by design — a banking fund and a pharma fund can move in opposite directions on the same day — so their median hides more than any other.
Equity categories: median 1-day return, 23 Oct 2026
%
| Label | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| Large cap | -0.74 |
| Dividend yield | -1.11 |
| ELSS (tax saver) | -1.23 |
| Focused | -1.33 |
| Flexi cap | -1.36 |
| Value & contra | -1.38 |
| Sectoral & thematic | -1.44 |
| Large & mid cap | -1.47 |
| Multi cap | -1.57 |
| Mid cap | -2.01 |
| Small cap | -2.18 |
| Category | Schemes | Rose today | 1 day | 1 week | 1 month | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large cap | 34 | 0 | −0.74% | −2.45% | −4.98% | −9.45% |
| Large & mid cap | 36 | 0 | −1.47% | −4.26% | −7.93% | −5.75% |
| Mid cap | 33 | 0 | −2.01% | −5.32% | −10.19% | −4.34% |
| Small cap | 36 | 0 | −2.18% | −6.09% | −10.16% | +5.07% |
| Flexi cap | 46 | 0 | −1.36% | −3.71% | −6.80% | −5.75% |
| Multi cap | 32 | 0 | −1.57% | −4.47% | −8.14% | −3.70% |
| Focused | 28 | 0 | −1.33% | −3.85% | −6.62% | −6.71% |
| Value & contra | 27 | 0 | −1.38% | −3.36% | −6.62% | −9.62% |
| ELSS (tax saver) | 43 | 0 | −1.23% | −3.63% | −6.77% | −7.21% |
| Dividend yield | 12 | 0 | −1.11% | −2.81% | −5.75% | −8.28% |
| Sectoral & thematic | 251 | 0 | −1.44% | −4.15% | −8.27% | −5.87% |
| Aggressive hybrid | 31 | 0 | −0.90% | −2.67% | −4.98% | −5.30% |
| Balanced advantage | 38 | 1 | −0.70% | −2.16% | −4.18% | −3.91% |
| Multi asset | 37 | 1 | −0.97% | −2.67% | −5.47% | −2.61% |
| Equity savings | 23 | 2 | −0.28% | −0.94% | −1.85% | +0.20% |
| Arbitrage | 39 | 39 | +0.19% | +0.31% | +0.64% | +5.46% |
| Conservative hybrid | 18 | 1 | −0.27% | −0.89% | −1.85% | +0.18% |
Hybrid funds: what a cushion looks like
Aggressive hybrid funds, which hold roughly 65–80% in equities, moved −0.90%. Balanced advantage funds, which change their equity share with valuations, moved −0.70%. Arbitrage funds — which lock in the price gap between the cash and futures markets — moved just +0.19%, the kind of steadiness they are built for. The less equity a hybrid fund holds, the smaller its share of an equity-market day, in both directions.
Debt funds: the quiet side of the market
Liquid funds earned +0.39% over the past month, about +4.9% a year at that pace — a reasonable read of what very short-term money is paying. Long-duration bond funds lost −0.33% over the past week. A fall in long-dated bond prices means bond yields rose, and the longer a fund’s average maturity, the more its NAV reacts.
| Debt category | Schemes | 1 day | 1 week | 1 month | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overnight | 40 | +0.02% | +0.12% | +0.44% | +4.21% |
| Liquid | 44 | +0.01% | +0.07% | +0.39% | +5.24% |
| Money market | 26 | +0.02% | −0.03% | +0.26% | +5.11% |
| Ultra short duration | 51 | 0.00% | −0.06% | +0.16% | +4.89% |
| Corporate bond | 21 | −0.04% | −0.23% | −0.54% | +3.02% |
| Banking & PSU | 20 | −0.03% | −0.23% | −0.49% | +3.05% |
| Gilt | 29 | −0.10% | −0.34% | −1.39% | +1.04% |
| Long duration | 13 | −0.10% | −0.33% | −1.30% | +1.79% |
| Credit risk | 13 | −0.07% | −0.23% | −0.35% | +5.60% |
Gold, silver and global funds
Gold funds moved −1.26% on the day and −7.14% over the month. Silver funds moved −3.26% (−16.46% over the month). In rupee terms, gold and silver funds carry two prices at once — the metal in dollars and the dollar in rupees — so a weaker rupee can lift them even on a day the metal is flat.
The bigger picture: the Nifty 50 measure over 12 sessions
Nifty 50 index funds, rebased to 100
index
| Label | Value (index) |
|---|---|
| 7 Oct | 100 |
| 8 Oct | 98.36 |
| 9 Oct | 99.63 |
| 12 Oct | 98.94 |
| 13 Oct | 100.52 |
| 14 Oct | 100.09 |
| 15 Oct | 101.75 |
| 16 Oct | 102.42 |
| 19 Oct | 101.28 |
| 21 Oct | 100.94 |
| 22 Oct | 100.39 |
| 23 Oct | 100.01 |
Inside the portfolios: the latest monthly disclosures
Daily NAVs show what fund portfolios are worth; the monthly disclosures show what they hold. Comparing every scheme’s last two disclosed portfolios, these holdings saw the largest changes in pooled value:
Largest increases
- HDFC Bank Limited (Banks) — pooled disclosed value +₹6,399 Cr across 293 schemes
- BSE Limited (Capital Markets) — pooled disclosed value +₹3,599 Cr across 135 schemes
- National Stock Exchange Of India Ltd (Capital Markets) — pooled disclosed value +₹2,925 Cr across 116 schemes
Largest decreases
- ICICI Bank Limited (Banks) — pooled disclosed value −₹22,901 Cr across 634 schemes
- Infosys Limited (IT - Software) — pooled disclosed value −₹12,024 Cr across 512 schemes
- State Bank of India (Banks) — pooled disclosed value −₹11,076 Cr across 582 schemes
What this means if you invest through SIPs
The Nifty 50 measure is −3.58% over the past month. For anyone investing through a SIP, that has a mechanical upside: each fixed instalment bought more units at the lower NAV. Those units only pay off if the market later recovers, which history suggests is likely over long periods but is never guaranteed over any particular one.
If you want to see how today’s market sits inside your portfolio — what you actually own across all your funds, and how much they overlap — Portfolio Analysis reads your CAS and does it in one step.
How these numbers are calculated
- Source: the net asset values every fund house publishes through AMFI each business day.
- Universe: open-ended Direct Plan Growth options with a NAV on 23 October 2026 and the previous business day (22 October 2026). IDCW options are excluded because payouts distort the NAV change.
- Category figures are medians, so a single fund with an unusual day does not move them. Categories with fewer than five schemes are left out.
- Index measures are the median of all index funds or fund-of-funds tracking that index, not the index level itself.
- Windows: 1 week = five business days; 1 month and year-to-date use the last NAV on or before 23 September 2026 and 31 December 2025.