By Nivas Masne
The year 2018 witnessed a volatile year for Dalal Street or for the Indian Stock Market.
The Sensex posted a gain of 2019 points to finish strong at 36,076.72, up by 6 per cent year-to-date, thanks to the recovery over the past couple of months.
India is set to end 2018 as the best-performing Asian market and the best-performing major global market after Brazil.
Seeing the performance of the year it was not satisfactory, as the Sensex spurted by 7285 points in 2017.
The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too rose by 329 points to 10,859.90 as compared to 2,305 points last year.
On January 1, 2018, the Sensex was at 33,812.75 pts and the Nifty was at 10,435. Within 23 days, the Sensex breached 36k level to 36,139 on January 23, 2018. January was prosperous for the investors.
The equity market remained sluggish for the first six months.
Later, the investors waited till July to gain the market. As on July 27, it crossed 37k level to 37,336.85 points. And from August it its lost glory and dwindling between 35 to 36k level.
A sharp decline in oil prices and strong buying by domestic funds have helped Indian markets withstand global volatility since October.
Nearly 85 per cent of the 2,413 stocks quoting on the BSE have lost value; just about one in six have gained.
Almost 1,500 stocks, or more than six in 10, have lost at least 25 per cent over the year, and more than a quarter of the stocks are down 50 per cent or more.
In contrast, only 177 stocks (less than one in 12) have gained at least 25 per cent, and 87 stocks (less than one in 25) have gained 50 per cent or more.
Of the nine stocks in the S&P BSE Oil & Gas Index, only Reliance Industries has made money for investors this calendar year 2018, a neat 22 per cent. This was driven by a good show across its refining, petrochemicals, retail and digital businesses.
But for this silver lining, it has been a forgettable year for the the oil and gas pack. The PSU oil marketing companies (OMC) Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL have lost 24-42 per cent; the PSU hydrocarbon explorers ONGC and Oil India are down 23 per cent; gas utilities GAIL and Indraprastha Gas have fallen 6-21 per cent and lubricant major Castrol India has slipped 20 per cent. This broad downside has dragged the BSE Oil & Gas Index down 15 per cent over the year, in contrast to the 7 per cent gain in the Sensex. (UNI)
