Strategies and factors: momentum, quality, value, low volatility

3 of 32 are in uptrends and 29 in downtrends on 5 Oct 2026. Leading on momentum: Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100, Alpha 50 and Nifty500 Momentum 50. Lagging: Top 15 Equal Weight and Nifty50 Value 20. The longest-running trend is Top 10 Equal Weight's downtrend, since January 2026.

Written for investors in factor and smart-beta funds. Data to 5 Oct 2026.

Every member, ranked

Ranked by momentum against all 128 markets in the section. The trend score beside it says whether each is rising in its own right; the ring shows where its momentum stood 13 weeks ago. The four squares are the signals at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months: blue when 3 or 4 of the 4 point up, red when 0 or 1 do.

Ranked by momentum Trend score 0 to 100 Momentum rank ring: 13 weeks ago 1, 3, 6, 12 months

1Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100Uptrend since May 2026 46 93

2Alpha 50Uptrend since May 2026 50 89

3Nifty500 Momentum 50Downtrend since Oct 2026 29 84

4MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100Downtrend since Oct 2026 33 80

5Nifty200 Alpha 30Downtrend since Oct 2026 29 75

6High Beta 50Uptrend since Apr 2026 42 73

7Midcap150 Momentum 50Downtrend since Oct 2026 17 70

8Nifty500 Equal WeightDowntrend since Oct 2026 29 68

9Nifty500 Multicap Momentum Quality 50Downtrend since Sep 2026 4 66

10Nifty200 Momentum 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 4 66

11Smallcap250 Quality 50Downtrend since Sep 2026 8 65

12Nifty100 Equal WeightDowntrend since Sep 2026 13 54

13Nifty500 Value 50Downtrend since Aug 2026 4 52

14Midcap150 Quality 50Downtrend since Sep 2026 13 46

15Nifty100 Alpha 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 4 40

16Nifty200 Value 30Downtrend since Jul 2026 4 39

17Alpha Quality Low-Volatility 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 8 36

18Nifty500 Low Volatility 50Downtrend since Aug 2026 0 35

19Nifty500 Quality 50Downtrend since Sep 2026 13 34

20Quality Low-Volatility 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 4 32

21Nifty50 Equal WeightDowntrend since Sep 2026 4 29

22Alpha Low-Volatility 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 8 25

23Nifty500 Multifactor MQVLv 50Downtrend since Aug 2026 0 25

24Top 20 Equal WeightDowntrend since Jan 2026 0 20

25Low Volatility 50Downtrend since Aug 2026 0 18

26Nifty200 Quality 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 0 18

27Alpha Quality Value Low-Volatility 30Downtrend since Aug 2026 0 17

28Top 10 Equal WeightDowntrend since Jan 2026 0 17

29Growth Sectors 15Downtrend since Sep 2026 0 11

30Nifty100 Low Volatility 30Downtrend since Sep 2026 0 7

31Nifty50 Value 20Downtrend since Feb 2026 0 5

32Top 15 Equal WeightDowntrend since Feb 2026 0 3

Table view

Market	Group	Trend	Trend score	Momentum, in family	Momentum, overall	3 months over cash	12 months over cash	Launched
Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100	Multi-factor	Uptrend since May 2026	46	1	10	−1.0%	−0.7%	2023-12
Alpha 50	Alpha	Uptrend since May 2026	50	2	15	−0.1%	+2.6%	2012-11
Nifty500 Momentum 50	Momentum	Downtrend since Oct 2026	29	3	21	−1.9%	−2.1%	2024-06
MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Oct 2026	33	4	26	−3.6%	−1.9%	2024-02
Nifty200 Alpha 30	Alpha	Downtrend since Oct 2026	29	5	33	−4.6%	−2.1%	2022-07
High Beta 50	High beta	Uptrend since Apr 2026	42	6	35	−6.6%	+6.0%	2012-11
Midcap150 Momentum 50	Momentum	Downtrend since Oct 2026	17	7	39	−4.1%	−3.7%	2022-08
Nifty500 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Oct 2026	29	8	41	−6.0%	−5.7%	2024-05
Nifty500 Multicap Momentum Quality 50	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Sep 2026	4	9	44	−4.8%	−7.8%	2024-09
Nifty200 Momentum 30	Momentum	Downtrend since Sep 2026	4	10	45	−5.2%	−7.4%	2020-08
Smallcap250 Quality 50	Quality	Downtrend since Sep 2026	8	11	46	−4.3%	−11.9%	2023-03
Nifty100 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Sep 2026	13	12	60	−7.2%	−5.9%	2013-06
Nifty500 Value 50	Value	Downtrend since Aug 2026	4	13	63	−7.6%	+0.9%	2018-10
Midcap150 Quality 50	Quality	Downtrend since Sep 2026	13	14	69	−6.4%	−9.9%	2019-10
Nifty100 Alpha 30	Alpha	Downtrend since Sep 2026	4	15	78	−7.7%	−11.4%	2019-06
Nifty200 Value 30	Value	Downtrend since Jul 2026	4	16	79	−8.6%	+2.0%	2024-06
Alpha Quality Low-Volatility 30	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Sep 2026	8	17	82	−8.2%	−9.0%	2017-07
Nifty500 Low Volatility 50	Low volatility	Downtrend since Aug 2026	0	18	84	−7.1%	−10.4%	2024-12
Nifty500 Quality 50	Quality	Downtrend since Sep 2026	13	19	85	−8.0%	−8.5%	2024-12
Quality Low-Volatility 30	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Sep 2026	4	20	88	−7.0%	−13.1%	2017-07
Nifty50 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Sep 2026	4	21	92	−8.2%	−8.1%	2017-04
Alpha Low-Volatility 30	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Sep 2026	8	22	97	−7.9%	−9.1%	2017-07
Nifty500 Multifactor MQVLv 50	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Aug 2026	0	22	97	−8.2%	−11.3%	2025-02
Top 20 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Jan 2026	0	24	104	−6.4%	−13.5%	2024-10
Low Volatility 50	Low volatility	Downtrend since Aug 2026	0	25	105	−8.1%	−11.8%	2012-11
Nifty200 Quality 30	Quality	Downtrend since Sep 2026	0	25	105	−6.7%	−12.0%	2018-04
Alpha Quality Value Low-Volatility 30	Multi-factor	Downtrend since Aug 2026	0	27	107	−8.1%	−13.1%	2017-07
Top 10 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Jan 2026	0	27	107	−6.8%	−16.9%	2024-06
Growth Sectors 15	Other rules	Downtrend since Sep 2026	0	29	115	−5.3%	−15.1%	2014-05
Nifty100 Low Volatility 30	Low volatility	Downtrend since Sep 2026	0	30	119	−8.4%	−11.5%	2016-07
Nifty50 Value 20	Value	Downtrend since Feb 2026	0	31	123	−8.6%	−15.1%	2014-03
Top 15 Equal Weight	Equal weight	Downtrend since Feb 2026	0	32	125	−8.7%	−16.8%	2024-10

How steady is the path?

Two markets can have the same trend score and very different paths. Efficiency measures how much of the last 63 sessions' travelled distance became net movement. Time above the 200-session average measures persistence; neither is a return forecast.

Market

Nifty500 Momentum 50: path efficiency and persistence

How to read it. High efficiency means a direct path, which can be upward or downward. Read direction from the trend score above. Missing sessions leave full-window measures blank.

Path efficiencyTime above 200-session average

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Source: NSE total-return indices via Data bank

Method JSON

Start with one benchmark for each main factor or construction approach, using the Nifty 500 universe where available. Parent universes, weights and selection rules differ; this is a display guide, not a ranking of strategy quality. The selector retains every available index.

Latest native-session readings. Scaled distance is log distance from the 200-session average divided by daily log-return volatility × √63. A large distance does not establish an imminent reversal. Histories begin at known launch dates.
Market	63-session efficiency	Time above 200-session average	Distance / 63-session volatility	Annualised 63-session volatility
Nifty500 Momentum 50	1.3%	100.0%	0.13	15.0%
Nifty500 Quality 50	21.6%	79.4%	−0.70	10.1%
Nifty500 Value 50	18.2%	76.2%	−0.94	11.3%
Nifty500 Low Volatility 50	20.7%	47.6%	−1.30	8.8%
Nifty200 Alpha 30	7.3%	96.8%	−0.01	15.1%
Nifty High Beta 50	10.9%	100.0%	0.26	16.8%
Nifty500 Equal Weight	14.3%	98.4%	0.03	11.8%
Nifty500 Multifactor MQVLv 50	25.6%	30.2%	−1.32	9.4%
Nifty Growth Sectors 15	10.3%	41.3%	−1.23	12.1%

Compare 23 more indices

Other universes and factor combinations. Different definitions are retained for detailed comparison; placement here is an editorial choice, not a return-based selection.
Market	63-session efficiency	Time above 200-session average	Distance / 63-session volatility	Annualised 63-session volatility
Nifty Alpha 50	2.4%	100.0%	0.66	15.0%
Nifty Alpha Low-Volatility 30	22.7%	76.2%	−0.99	9.8%
Nifty Alpha Quality Low-Volatility 30	24.1%	76.2%	−0.88	9.4%
Nifty Alpha Quality Value Low-Volatility 30	25.3%	22.2%	−1.46	8.7%
Nifty Low Volatility 50	24.3%	42.9%	−1.30	9.4%
Nifty MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100	6.3%	100.0%	0.20	11.8%
Nifty Midcap150 Momentum 50	6.8%	90.5%	−0.24	13.5%
Nifty Midcap150 Quality 50	15.0%	84.1%	−0.52	11.1%
Nifty Quality Low-Volatility 30	20.3%	42.9%	−1.20	9.1%
Nifty Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100	0.7%	100.0%	0.93	13.6%
Nifty Smallcap250 Quality 50	8.5%	88.9%	−0.19	11.7%
Nifty Top 10 Equal Weight	16.3%	0.0%	−1.40	12.0%
Nifty Top 15 Equal Weight	21.8%	0.0%	−1.48	11.9%
Nifty Top 20 Equal Weight	15.7%	14.3%	−1.20	11.0%
Nifty100 Alpha 30	15.4%	71.4%	−0.58	14.3%
Nifty100 Equal Weight	18.8%	88.9%	−0.54	10.9%
Nifty100 Low Volatility 30	24.9%	50.8%	−1.34	9.4%
Nifty200 Momentum 30	9.3%	54.0%	−0.45	14.1%
Nifty200 Quality 30	16.1%	46.0%	−1.14	10.8%
Nifty200 Value 30	22.0%	54.0%	−1.17	11.5%
Nifty50 Equal Weight	22.8%	69.8%	−1.01	10.3%
Nifty50 Value 20	24.6%	0.0%	−1.77	10.4%
Nifty500 Multicap Momentum Quality 50	9.3%	60.3%	−0.36	13.3%

How broad

The share of the family in an uptrend, week by week. Each member counts only from its launch date, so NSE's back-calculated histories do not fill the early years.

Family	1 month	3 months	6 months	12 months
Strategies and factors32 markets	0% up100% down	0% up100% down	22% up75% down	9% up78% down

Strategies and factors: share in an uptrend, week by week

Weekly, from 2014, when the family first had five members counted; the 13-week average in bold.

How to read it. Today 9% of the family is in an uptrend. Long stretches near the top or bottom are the family moving as one; time spent in the middle means its members are going separate ways.

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Source: NSE total-return indices (niftyindices); World Gold Council (gold in rupees); NSE 5-year G-sec index; ECB reference rates (the rupee, and overseas indices in rupees); overseas index closes as in docs/methods/world.md.

Method JSON

Regime history

Every member's uptrends (blue) and downtrends (red) since its history begins, sorted with today's uptrends first, longest-running at the top. 32 of 32 are back-calculated by NSE before their launch: that part is drawn lighter, with a dark tick at the launch.

Strategies and factors: regimes since 1996

Weekly readings. Blank: before the first trend was established.

How to read it. Read across a row for one market's story; read down for one moment across the family. Long single-colour columns are markets moving together; a patchwork is a family going separate ways.

UptrendDowntrendBefore launch (back-calculated)

High Beta 50

Alpha 50

Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100

Nifty500 Multifactor MQVLv 50

Nifty500 Value 50

Alpha Quality Value Low-Volatility 30

Low Volatility 50

Nifty500 Low Volatility 50

Alpha Quality Low-Volatility 30

Quality Low-Volatility 30

Nifty100 Low Volatility 30

Nifty200 Quality 30

Alpha Low-Volatility 30

Growth Sectors 15

Midcap150 Quality 50

Smallcap250 Quality 50

Nifty100 Alpha 30

Nifty100 Equal Weight

Nifty200 Momentum 30

Nifty50 Equal Weight

Nifty500 Quality 50

Nifty500 Multicap Momentum Quality 50

MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100

Midcap150 Momentum 50

Nifty200 Alpha 30

Nifty500 Equal Weight

Nifty500 Momentum 50

Is leadership rotating?

Of the 6 members with the strongest momentum 26 weeks ago, 3 are still among the top 6 today (High Beta 50, MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100 and Nifty200 Alpha 30). Leadership has partly turned over. In the ranked list above, a long line from ring to dot is a market whose momentum has moved a long way in 13 weeks.

Then: Nifty200 Value 30, Nifty500 Value 50, High Beta 50, MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100, Nifty200 Alpha 30, Midcap150 Momentum 50. Now: Smallcap250 Momentum Quality 100, Alpha 50, Nifty500 Momentum 50, MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100, Nifty200 Alpha 30, High Beta 50.

How to read this

These are rules-based baskets, and nearly all were designed and launched between 2012 and 2025 on histories back to 2005. A rule designed with that history in view looks better in it than it will afterwards, which is why the family's breadth counts each index only from its launch.

A momentum index ranking high on momentum is close to circular: it holds last year's winners by construction. The interesting reading is when it ranks low.

Trend asks whether a market is rising; momentum asks whether it is rising faster than the others. Both look back over the same horizons: 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Every market is measured on its return above a liquid fund (the 91-day T-bill), so an index that only keeps pace with cash is not trending.

The trend score is the share of 24 signals that point up: four ways of asking whether a price is trending (above where it was, above its average, a short average above a long one, in the top half of its range), each at six horizons from one month to a year. 100 means all agree it is rising; 0 that all agree it is falling.

Uptrend and downtrend. Read once a week, a market enters an uptrend when its score reaches 70 (17 of 24 signals up) and stays in it until the score falls to 30 or below, when it enters a downtrend. "Uptrend since March 2026" means the score first reached 70 in March and has not fallen to 30 since. The gap between the two lines keeps a market from flipping every other week.

Describing is not forecasting. In our pre-registered tests no trend or momentum rule on indices beat buying and holding by more than luck would explain, and after tax every rule trailed on the large-cap indices. What the rules did reliably was cut the worst falls. What the tests found. Many indices are back-calculated by NSE before their launch; their pages say so and draw that history lighter.

The workings

Method

How trend, momentum and regimes are measured

Data

Every chart has a table view, a CSV download and a link to its published JSON. Bundles are listed in data status.