Sensex ends FY18 with 11.30% gain, investors richer by ₹20.70 lakh crore

The BSE Sensex slumped 206 points in see-saw trade on Wednesday to close below the 33,000-mark on the last trading session of 2017-18, but finished the fiscal with a gain of 11.30%

Besides weak global cues, squaring of bets by investors due to end of March month expiry in the derivatives segment halted its two-session winning run, brokers said.

On the macro front, official data showed India’s fiscal deficit soared to ₹7.15 lakh crore at the end of February, exceeding the revised target for the full fiscal, which further hit sentiment.

| Read: India’s April-Feb fiscal deficit breaches FY18 target by 120%

The broader NSE Nifty 50 also ended 70 points lower at 10,113.70.

The flagship BSE Sensex has gained 3,348.18 points, or 11.30%, during 2017-18. The index had gained 16.88% in the previous fiscal.

Investors saw a wealth addition of ₹20.70 lakh crore during fiscal 2017-18. The market capitalisation of all the firms listed on the BSE reached ₹142.24 lakh crore, from ₹121.54 lakh crore as on March 31, 2017.

The broader NSE Nifty closed the fiscal with gains of 939.95 points, or 10.25%. During the previous fiscal, it scored gains of 1,435.55 points, or 18.55%.

For the day, the BSE Sensex snapped its two-session winning streak to end lower by 205.71 points, or 0.62% at 32,968.68. It hovered between 33,104.11 and 32,917.66 during the session.

The gauge had rallied 577.85 points in the past two sessions.

The NSE Nifty too ended the day 70.45 points, or 0.69% lower at 10,113.70 after shuttling between 10,158.35 and 10,096.90.

On a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex rose 372.14 points, or 1.14%, while the Nifty gained 115.65 points, or 1.16%. This was their first gain in five weeks.

Stock exchanges will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively.

“Market slid on the expiry day due to volatility in global market and last leg of redemption ahead of introduction of LTCG. We expect domestic volatility to normalise as declining yield and inflation may provide room for RBI to extend their neutral stance, against rate hike expectation.

“Result season will be next major trigger as earnings growth remain in the initial stage of recovery while investors are focused on the possibility of further upgrade,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net ₹1,063.12, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of ₹2,172.91 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.

Tata Steel was the day’s worst performer in the Sensex pack, plunging 3.25%, followed by Bharti Airtel at 3.05%.

Other losers were Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, RIL, Infosys, SBI, Power Grid, Tata Motors, ITC Ltd, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s, NTPC, Axis Bank, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank, shedding up to 2.93%.

In contrast, Wipro rose 3.27%, Coal India 2.94%, Hero MotoCorp 2.30%, Kotak Bank 0.55%, Yes Bank 0.49%, IndusInd Bank 0.43%, L&T 0.39%, HDFC Ltd 0.28%, TCS 0.26%, Hindustan Unilever 0.26% and Maruti Suzuki 0.11%.

Sectorally, BSE telecom fell 2.58%, metal 2.04%, healthcare 1.14%, realty 1.07%, power 1.05%, infrastructure 0.99%, teck 0.67%, banking 0.65%, PSU 0.50%, FMCG 0.37% and IT 0.31%.

However, consumer durables rose 0.24% and oil and gas 0.06%.

The broader market sentiment too remained bearish, with the small-cap and mid-cap indices falling 0.92% and 0.53%, respectively.

Overseas, Asian markets closed lower after a sharp fall on Wall Street, driven by technology stocks.

Hong Kong ended 2.50% down, Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.34%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.40%.

European stocks too were down in their initial deals. Paris’s CAC declined by 1.33%, Frankfurt’s DAX fell 1.43% and London’s FTSE shed 0.98%.