India best performing markets

India dominated a list of the best-performing stocks in 2007, according to an analysis of stocks in Russell Investment Group's global indexes released on Wednesday.

A list of the top 100 stocks, based on total return, showed India with 41 of the top 100 and five of the top 6.

China, represented by Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Ltd, was at the top of the list. The stock returned 1,017 percent last year, according to Russell.

The returns are calculated in U.S. dollar terms.

Forty-eight of the top 100 stocks are based in the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, Russell said.

Six of the stocks are U.S.-based companies.

More than one-third of the top 100 stocks, 39, are in the materials and processing sector.

The second-biggest gainer in 2007 was India-based Jai Corp Ltd, up 877 percent.

Rounding out the top five were Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, up 823 percent, Ispat Industries Ltd, with a return of 742 percent, and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, up 664 percent. All of them are India stocks.

India-based Essar Oil Ltd was in sixth place, up 570 percent.

The MSCI India index rose 70.53 percent in 2007, calculated through of Dec. 28.

The vast majority of stocks in the top 50 were smaller companies, as measured by market capitalization. Forty-three were from the small-cap tier and only seven from the large-cap tier.

The Russell Global Index uses the Russell 3000 as its U.S. component. That index includes the small-cap stocks in the Russell 2000 as well as larger stocks in the Russell 1000.

Stocks below the Russell 2000 bottom cut-off are not included in the global indexes.