📈 Markets — Trending Sectors Tab

Sectors Ranked by % Stocks with Positive 1-Year Returns · Sortable · Click-Through to Screener

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Published: April 20, 2026  |  5 min read  |  Platform Guide  |  Markets

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Sector rotation explained — find which part of the market money is flowing into right now

What You Will Master

The Trending Sectors tab answers a deceptively simple question: which sectors are most of the market's stocks actually making money in right now? Not which sector index is highest — but in which sector are the most individual stocks showing positive 1-year returns. This cross-sectional view identifies true sector leadership vs index-driven illusions.

What This Guide Covers:

  1. What % Trending means — the exact calculation and why 1-year return is the right window
  2. The 6 table columns — rank, sector, % Trending (with bar), Trending/Total, All Stocks, Avg 1Y CAGR
  3. Colour coding — green/amber/red and what each means for sector health
  4. Sorting strategies — when to sort by % Trending vs Avg 1Y CAGR
  5. % Trending vs Avg CAGR divergence — the sector rotation early signal
  6. The click-through workflow — from Trending Sectors → Screener → Stock
What exactly does % Trending measure?
% Trending = (number of stocks in the sector with a positive 1-year price return) ÷ (total stocks in the sector with available data). It is a cross-sectional participation metric — it measures how many of the sector's individual stocks are actually in positive territory over the past year, not just whether the sector's index or ETF is up. A sector can have a positive sector index return but a low % Trending if that index is driven by a few heavyweights.
What is the difference between % Trending and Avg 1Y CAGR?
% Trending counts what fraction of stocks are positive (breadth). Avg 1Y CAGR measures the average magnitude of return across stocks (intensity). A sector with 85% Trending but only +12% Avg CAGR has broad participation but moderate returns — many stocks are up, but none dramatically. A sector with 40% Trending but +45% Avg CAGR has a few big winners pulling up the average — high intensity, low breadth. The first is healthier; the second may indicate a narrow, concentrated rally.
When should I sort by % Trending vs Avg 1Y CAGR?
Sort by % Trending (default) to find sectors with broad participation — the healthiest sectors for a trend-following strategy. Sort by Avg 1Y CAGR to find sectors generating the highest returns per stock — useful for momentum strategies. Ideally the leading sector appears near the top in both sorts. When they diverge, investigate: a sector with high % Trending but low Avg CAGR may be plateauing; a sector with low % Trending but high Avg CAGR may be in early-stage rotation led by a few pioneers.
What does clicking a sector name do?
Clicking a sector name opens the Finmagine Screener pre-filtered to that sector. All other filters start at their defaults (or your last saved session), so you can immediately apply quality filters (ROE, ROCE, OPM, D/E) on top of the sector filter to find the best-quality stocks within the trending sector. This is the core top-down workflow: find the leading sector here, then screen for quality within it.
Why does the tab use 1-year returns rather than 1-month or 3-month?
1-year return filters out short-term noise while being responsive enough to detect real sector rotation. 1-month data is too noisy (a single earnings surprise can skew an entire sector). 3-month is better but can still include mean-reversion bounces. 1-year captures stocks that have been in a sustained trend — which is the right signal for identifying sectors where money is structurally rotating, not just bouncing.
How does Trending Sectors differ from the Sector Heatmap?
The Sector Heatmap visualises return data (1Y/3Y/5Y CAGR) using tile size (mcap) and colour on a visual map. Trending Sectors ranks sectors in a sortable table using % of stocks with positive returns — a participation metric. The Heatmap is better for visual pattern recognition and comparing absolute returns. Trending Sectors is better for quantitative ranking and identifying which sector has the most stocks generating positive returns right now.

1. What the Trending Sectors Tab Shows

The Trending Sectors tab gives a cross-sectional view of the Indian market: for each NSE sector, it computes what fraction of constituent stocks have generated a positive 1-year price return. This is a participation metric — it tells you how broad a sector's recovery or decline is, rather than just whether the sector index is up or down.

Why cross-sectional participation matters:

A sector ETF or index can show +18% for the year while only 30% of its stocks are actually positive — because two or three heavyweights dominate the index weight. The Trending Sectors tab bypasses this concentration effect by asking: what fraction of individual stocks are participating? A sector where 80% of stocks are positive is genuinely healthy. A sector where 30% are positive but the index is up (because the top 2 stocks are up 60%) is a more fragile signal.

In this example, Capital Goods leads (82.4% of its stocks are positive over 1 year with an average CAGR of +31.2%). FMCG is in broad decline — only 34% of its stocks are positive and the average CAGR is negative. This immediately tells you where to focus stock research (Capital Goods / IT) and what to be cautious about (FMCG / Metals).

2. The 6 Table Columns Explained

Column What It Shows Best Used For
# Rank by current sort column (default: % Trending) Quick visual ordering of sector leadership
Sector NSE sector name. Clickable — opens Screener pre-filtered to sector. Jump directly to finding stocks in the leading sector
% Trending % of sector stocks with positive 1Y return. Colour-coded + mini bar. Green ≥70%, Amber 40–70%, Red <40%. Identify sectors with broad participation
Trending / Total Raw count: stocks with positive 1Y return / stocks with available data Understand the absolute depth of the sector; small sectors can have misleading %s
All Stocks Total stocks in the sector in Finmagine's database (including those without 1Y data) Context: a sector with 38 stocks is more concentrated than one with 120
Avg 1Y CAGR Average 1-year price return across all sector stocks with data. Green = positive, red = negative. Measure sector return intensity alongside participation breadth
Sort tip: Click any column header to sort. Click again to reverse. The default is % Trending descending (highest first). When researching a sector, first sort by % Trending to find the healthiest sector, then click into it to sort its stocks by the Screener's quality metrics.

3. Using % Trending vs Avg CAGR as a Rotation Signal

The most powerful insight in the Trending Sectors tab comes from comparing % Trending with Avg 1Y CAGR within the same sector. When these two metrics diverge, it often signals sector rotation in progress.

High % Trending, Low Avg CAGR — Plateau Signal

Example: FMCG with 75% Trending but Avg CAGR of only +5%. Most stocks are positive (broad participation) but the returns are modest. This suggests the sector has already delivered its recovery — it's broadly up but not generating excitement. Momentum chasers may start rotating out to higher-return sectors.

Low % Trending, High Avg CAGR — Early Rotation Signal

Example: a sector with 35% Trending but Avg CAGR of +28%. Only a third of stocks are positive, but those that are have returned exceptionally well. This often indicates early-stage sector rotation — a few leading stocks are breaking out, but the move hasn't broadened to most of the sector yet. This is the pattern to watch: check the Screener for those few leading stocks, and monitor whether % Trending starts climbing in subsequent weeks.

The rotation lifecycle in three stages:

Stage 1 — Early: Low % Trending (20–40%), High Avg CAGR (a few leaders up sharply). Few people have noticed. Best time to enter quality leaders.

Stage 2 — Broadening: % Trending rising (40–70%), Avg CAGR strong and steady. The move is broadening. Most profitable stage to hold through.

Stage 3 — Mature: High % Trending (70%+), Avg CAGR moderating. Broad participation but diminishing returns. Trim positions, watch for any sector where Stage 1 signals are appearing.

4. The Trending Sectors → Screener Workflow

1
Identify the top 2–3 sectors by % Trending

The top 2–3 sectors in the default sort are where the most stocks are generating positive 1-year returns. Note whether they are green (≥70%) or amber (40–70%) — green sectors have broader participation.

2
Cross-check with the Sector Heatmap

Open the Heatmap tab and verify: are these sectors green in the 1Y/3Y/5Y CAGR view? If the Trending Sectors tab and the Heatmap agree on the same top sectors, that's a high-conviction signal about market leadership.

3
Click the leading sector name to open the Screener

The Screener opens pre-filtered to your chosen sector. Add quality filters: ROCE ≥ 15%, OPM ≥ 15%, D/E ≤ 0.5 (or whatever your criteria are). This narrows the sector's stocks to only the fundamentally strong ones.

4
Open the top candidates on the Stock analysis page

Click each candidate from the Screener results to view their full stock analysis page — financials, valuation history, AI Advisor templates, momentum signals, and more. Confirm whether the fundamentals justify the trend.

Complete top-down decision chain:
Markets → Breadth (is the overall environment healthy?) → FII/DII (is big money flowing in?) → Trending Sectors (which sector is leading?) → Sector Heatmap (cross-confirm) → Screener (find quality stocks within sector) → Stock analysis (validate fundamentals)

See which sectors are leading the market right now:

Open Trending Sectors Tab ↗
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