MUMBAI: Samvat 2078 has turned out to be the worst-performing year for the sensex in seven years even as investor wealth increased by over Rs 11 lakh crore since last Diwali. The sensex closed the year flat at 59,307 on Friday. The 0. 8% decline since last Diwali meant that the sensex slipped into the red for the first time since Samvat 2071 (calendar year 2015), when it had sunk 4%. Vikram Samvat, which is about 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar and starts on the day of Diwali, is followed mainly by the trading community on Dalal Street. The ‘muhurat’ trading, an hour-long special evening session at the BSE, will be on October 23.
The muted performance in Samvat 2078 came after the sensex rallied 38% — a 12-year record — in the previous year. Even during Samvat 2076, when the pandemic broke out, the sensex had risen 11% despite extreme volatility.
The Omicron variant was the first pain-point for investors. It was followed by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February, which wreaked havoc on global supply chains and pushed up energy & commodity prices. The third blow came from the relentless rate hikes by the US Federal Reserves to counter soaring inflation, which led to flight of foreign institutional investors. The ongoing economic slowdown in China, rate hikes in Indiaand the sliding rupee have added to bearishness among investors.
Market players said that buying by domestic institutional investors like mutualfunds helped cushion the sensex’s fall.
The muted performance in Samvat 2078 came after the sensex rallied 38% — a 12-year record — in the previous year. Even during Samvat 2076, when the pandemic broke out, the sensex had risen 11% despite extreme volatility.
The Omicron variant was the first pain-point for investors. It was followed by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February, which wreaked havoc on global supply chains and pushed up energy & commodity prices. The third blow came from the relentless rate hikes by the US Federal Reserves to counter soaring inflation, which led to flight of foreign institutional investors. The ongoing economic slowdown in China, rate hikes in Indiaand the sliding rupee have added to bearishness among investors.
Market players said that buying by domestic institutional investors like mutualfunds helped cushion the sensex’s fall.
A global market weakness notwithstanding, every month retail investors have consistently invested around Rs 12,000 crore in mutual funds, most of which have been deployed in equities. Since last Diwali, foreign institutional investors have net sold about Rs 1. 9-lakh-crore stocks, while domestic funds have net purchased over Rs 2-lakh-crore equities.
The addition of Rs 11 lakh crore to BSE’s market capitalisation at Rs 277 lakh crore reflected smarter gains for non-sensex stocks. A part of the gains also came from a handful of high-profile market debuts of companies like LIC, Paytm and Nykaa. Over Rs 8 lakh crore of the market cap rise came from Adani Group stocks alone.
