2025, Vol. 8, Issue 1

author(s)
Badal Patel and Kumarjay Shakya

abstract
This study investigates the volatility and return characteristics of the Nifty 50 Index over the five-year period from April 01, 2019 to March 31, 2024. It also studies the market pre-COVID and post-COVID using the daily high and low prices of the two years from 2019-2021. The main objective is to study the performance and growth of Nifty 50 over the last five years in India. Utilizing daily closing prices sourced from NSE website we calculate the average daily return, standard deviation of daily returns and their annualized equivalents to provide a comprehensive analysis of the index's performance and risk profile. The findings reveal an average daily return of 0.053% indicating a steady growth in the index while the standard deviation of daily returns at 1.21% reflects the short-term volatility experienced by investors. When annualized, the average return of 14.26% and median return of 11.82% underscores strong market performance suggesting healthy growth in the Indian stock market over the analysed period. The annualized standard deviation of 19.03% highlights the associated risk reflecting significant deviation from the annual returns. This study provides valuable insights for investors, portfolio managers, and policymakers seeking to understand the dynamics, risk and return of the Nifty 50 Index.