Nearly half of stocks down 20% from 52-week highs

Analysts say benchmark indices hiding the pain and volatility in broader market; general advice is to now avoid small-caps and mid-caps

Nearly half the stocks in the broader market have come off more than 20 per cent from their yearly highs, even as the benchmark indices are only three per cent shy of new record highs.

In the BSE 500 index, 91 per cent of India's market capitalisation, 199 scrips have lost 20 per cent or more from their highs as investors have turned wary, due to deteriorating fundamentals and lack of earnings growth.

Similarly, 237 of 850 components in the BSE Small cap Index have lost more than 20 per cent from their one-year peak, with 80 of these plunging over 50