Sensex Sheds 293 pts on Last Day of 2022, Nifty Settles at 18,100; Bajaj Twins Shine

Sensex Today: The benchmark indices ended on negative note amid volatility on December 30, the last trading session of year 2022, with Nifty around 18,100. S&P BSE Sensex rallied to a high 61,393 in Friday’s morning trades. The benchmark index, thereafter, pared gains and slipped into the negative zone as the day progressed owing to weakness in index heavyweights ICICI Bank and HDFC twins.

A heavy bout of selling in late trades, saw the BSE index plunge to a low of 60,744 – down 293 points from the day’s high. The Sensex finally ended the day with a loss of 293 points at 60,841.

Despite the day’s loss, the BSE benchmark managed to gain 1.7 per cent this week, and also signed-off the year 2022 on a winning note – 4.4 per cent higher.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled 86 points lower on the last trading day of the year, but was up 1.7 per cent this week and 4.3 per cent in 2022.

Among the Sensex 30 shares, ICICI Bank was down over 1.5 per cent, and was solely responsible for a near 100 points loss on the 30-share benchmark. Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro and PowerGrid Corporation were the other notable losers.

On the positive front, Bajaj Finserv rallied over 2 per cent. Titan, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel were up over a per cent each.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices in trade today. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.4 per cent, while the Smallcap index advanced 0.8 per cent. The overall market breadth too was fairly positive, with nearly 2,200 advancing shares versus 1,300-odd declining stocks on the BSE.

In contrast the day’s performance, the broader indices were underperformers in the year 2022. The BSE Midcap index finished with a gain of 1.4 per cent as against the Sensex gain of 4.4 per cent. The Smallcap index was down 1.8 per cent for the year.

Sectorally, the BSE Consumer Durables index moved 0.8 per cent higher in trades on Friday. The Metal and Realty indices were the ofther notable gainers. On the other hand, FMCG, Power and Bankex finished in the negative zone.

Global Cues

Globally, technology and growth stocks lifted US markets overnight. NASDAQ Composite gained over 250 points to close above 2 per cent, whereas the S&P 500 and Dow Jones climbed up to 1 per cent each.

The exuberance spilled across markets in Asia-Pacific too this morning, as the S&P 200, Nikkei 225, Topix, Hang Seng, and Shanghai Composite indices rose up to 1 per cent.

In the commodities market, a mixed trend was seen as prices of Brent Crude declined over 1 per cent to $82 per barrel due to fears of uncertain demand. WTI Crude, however, advanced 0.5 per cent to $78 per barrel.

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