Indian stocks managed to stay afloat even as various global equities sank in 2018 amid concerns over the impact of the US-China trade dispute and the prospect of interest rate tightening in the US. The Nifty was up by 5.91 per cent in 2018 as against a drop in various other developed and emerging markets.

While India was reeling under the twin impact of falling rupee and rising crude mid-way through 2018, a reversal in oil prices and the rupee helped revive sentiment. Mid-cap and smallcap indices were down 16 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively as earnings failed to catch up over the past few years due to higher input costs.