Sensex ends FY17 with 16% gain; investors richer by Rs 26 trn

Benchmark Sensex slipped 27 points today to end at 29,620.50 on the last trading day of 2016-17, but scored a gain of over 16 per cent for the full fiscal during which investors' wealth grew by over Rs 26 lakh crore.

The broader 50-share index Nifty, which today ended flat at 9,173.75 points, scored even better for the full year with a surge of 18.55 per cent. Measured in terms of total market capitalisation of all listed stocks on the BSE, the overall investor wealth grew to a record high of Rs 121 lakh crore -- up from Rs 94.75 lakh crore at the end of fiscal 2015-16.

The Sensex has gained 4,278.64 points, or 16.88 per cent, for the entire fiscal 2016-17. The gauge had touched the year's high of 29,824.62 (intra-day) on March 17 this year.

The broader Nifty ended the fiscal with gains of 1,435.55 points, or 18.55 per cent, after scaling the year's high of 9,218.40 (intra-session) on March 17. The index had lost about 9 per cent in the previous fiscal, but had ended 2014-15 with gains of 26.65 per cent.

For the day, the BSE Sensex snapped its three-session winning streak to end lower by 26.92 points, or 0.09 per cent at 29,620.50. It hovered between 29,687.64 and 29,552.61 during the day. The gauge had rallied 410.27 points in the past three sessions.

The broader market sentiment remained strong, with the mid-cap and small-cap indices outperforming the Sensex by rising 0.79 per cent and 0.72 per cent, respectively.

The NSE Nifty ended the day flat at 9,173.75 after shuttling between 9,191.70 and 9,152.10 On a weekly basis, the Sensex rose 199.10 points, or 0.67 per cent, while the Nifty gained 65.75 points, or 0.72 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 67.97 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. "Sectoral performance on the NSE was mixed. While banking and FMCG stocks traded lower, metals and media stocks invited buying interest.

"US stocks closed higher yesterday after it was announced that the US economy, as measured by gross domestic product, expanded at a 2.1 per cent annualised pace in the fourth quarter, slightly faster than the previously reported 1.9 per cent," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager – Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

RIL was the day's best performer in the Sensex pack, rallying 3.93 per cent to Rs 1,319.20, its highest in nine years, with the company's telecom unit Jio set to charge for its services from April 1.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, Cipla, ITC, Asian Paint, TCS, GAIL, HUL, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp were under pressure largely on profit booking after recent gains.

In contrast, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, M&M, Coal India, SBI, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports and ONGC notched good gains. Sector-wise, energy rose 2.52 per cent, oil and gas 1.65 per cent, metal 1.13 per cent, consumer durables 1.05 per cent and capital goods 0.98 per cent.

However, telecom fell 0.92 per cent, followed by bankex (0.73 per cent), finance (0.52 per cent) and realty (0.53 per cent). The market breadth remained positive as 1,625 stocks ended higher, 1,118 declined, while 230 ruled unchanged. The total turnover rose to Rs 4,953.97 crore from Rs 4,606.56 crore yesterday.

Overseas, Asian markets closed lower as the quarter drew to a close, with investors ignoring better-than-expected US economic growth data. Hong Kong ended 0.65 per cent down, Japan's Nikkei shed 0.81 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.36 per cent.

European stocks were down in their initial deals. Paris's CAC declined by 0.25 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.11 per cent and London's FTSE shed 0.36 per cent.