Stock Markets 2022: A Year Of Big Highs And Bigger Lows
From a year that saw the new investors being enveloped by uncertainty to a year that saw the bull and the bear on a ride, 2022 was indeed a roller coaster for the stock market.
From Russia-Ukraine War to inflation and Oil prices, there were several factors that were seen making the markets fluctuate all the year through.
Here’s a quick recap of the top gainers and losers in the market before we step into 2023:
January—
January saw the banking sector is on a rise. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank were the top gainers this month. The top losers included Maruti, Ultratech Cement, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech.
February—
The month of love wasn’t a great love affair for the markets. This month the markets globally witnessed carnage owing to the war-like situation and geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. This led to a 3.58 per cent decline in the first week.
The Nifty50 index closed on a strongly negative note for the week, breaking below the crucial support zone around 16,800 levels. The Sensex closed on a red, with Dr Reddys, Asian Paints, TCS, L&T, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins and Bajaj Finserv, down by 2-3 per cent.
March—
This month saw investors benefitting from early investments in building materials, industries, and PSU companies. Optimistic outlook on real estate and increased order flows led to a rally in infra and infra-related stocks.
Stocks in IT, Pharma, and Chemicals saw investors getting good gains. Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys, and Tata Steel were the top-traded individual stock futures contracts in the F&O segment of NSE.
April—
April is considered one of the worst months of the year to buy stocks, yet April began on a positive note. Selling in frontline IT stocks gathered momentum from the second week. For April 2022, FPI selling was Rs17,144 crore in equities and Rs22,688 crore overall. Those investing in automobile stocks had a smile on their faces, as automobiles gave 4.99 per cent returns, while the oil and gas sector gave 4.18 per cent.
However, the chip shortage curtailed production, helping their pricing power. Oil and gas were a result of robust crude prices, which hints at higher GRMs as well as higher inventory translation gains. Reliance was the big driver in April as its market cap touched an all-time high of Rs.19 trillion. The IT index fell -12.93 per cent in April 2022.
May—
The sultry month of May saw the heat turning for the stock markets too. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.34 per cent to end at 52,973.84, and the Nifty 50 climbed 60.15 0.38 per cent to settle at 15,842.30.
Both the indices had opened on a positive note earlier on 16 May and inched higher as the trade progressed, with the Sensex hitting a high of 53,428.28 and the broader Nifty touching 15,977.95.
On one hand, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki India, State Bank of India (SBI), Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top gainers of this month, on the other hand, Ultratech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and HCL Technologies did not do well on the charts.
June—
This was a month when Metals witnessed a quick modification, followed by Consumer Durables, Utilities, Metals, Healthcare, Realty and IT stocks.
July—
Although monsoons were late this year, for the stock market, it rained some happiness. The Indian stock market saw its best month for 2022, with the Nifty jumping 8.6 per cent in July. Metal, Realty, FMCG and banking stocks drove the markets lavishly during the month. Nifty heavyweights Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv soared up to 38 per cent in the month. Robust loan growth, stellar earnings, and buzz around stock-split fueled a share rally.
Amid rising inflation and a high-interest rate environment, banks and consumer companies reported good numbers. In contrast, IT and Metal were the worst hit this month. The IT index came under pressure due to a fall in margins, higher attrition, rising sub-contractor and travel costs, rising interest rates in the US, and concerns about the recession.
August—
The Indian share market rounded off in green at the end of the month. While the BSE Sensex shut down at 58,833.87 and was up by 59 points or 0.10 per cent, the Nifty50 panned out by over 36 points or 0.21 per cent at 17558.90. NTPC Shares ended at Rs 163.40, up 2.80 per cent on the BSE from the Thursday (26 august) closing price.
Titan shares ended at Rs 2532.55, up 0.50 per cent from the closing price. Power Grid Shares broke off at Rs 230.60, up 1.92 per cent on the BSE from the Thursday finale price. Kotak Mahindra Bank
Shares ended at Rs 1901.35, up 1.71 per cent on the BSE from the Thursday final price.
But the month wasn’t so good for some players, like Indusind Bank, whose shares ended at Rs 1068.45, down 1.92 per cent on the BSE from the Thursday closing price. HDFC Shares ended at Rs 2394.75, down 1.20 per cent from the Thursday final price. Asian Paints Shares ended at Rs 3323.35, down 1.18 per cent from the Thursday closing price.
September—
This month was generally a positive month for the stock market, with Nifty 50 posting losses just seven times in the last 17 years. Yet, FII gushes due to a strong dollar, interest rate hike worries, and slowdown concerns directed to a tumble this time.
Nifty Realty, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Commodities, and Nifty IT were among the major failures, plunging up to 10.2 per cent during the month. The Indian stock market started the month perfectly, with robust GDP growth data, substantial auto sales numbers, and strong inflows by FII’s in the previous month lifted sentiments during the first week.
In the final week, the Nifty remained highly volatile until the last day of the month. The Nifty staged a massive comeback on the last day of the month to soar 1.64 per cent after RBI’s rate hike of 0.5 per cent came in line with expectations.
October—
Gains were broad-based, as all the sectoral indices ended positively. Financial Services, IT, Pharma, Auto, and Consumer Durable indices gained over 1 per cent each, while others too rose to 1 per cent.
Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma, HDFC twins, L&T, M&M, Bajaj twins, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Infosys, Tech M, Kotak Bank, HUL, Titan, and ITC jumped 1-4 per cent. On the downside, NTPC, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, IndusInd Bank, and Nestle were the only Sensex losers.
November—
The Indian stock market remained immune to negative global cues, with indices touching record highs on Monday (28 November) but trimmed some gains towards the end.
The strong showing helped Sensex close above the 62,500 mark, and the Nifty surpassed 18,600 intraday. Sensex ended 211 points higher to close at 62,504, while Nifty gained 50 points to end at 18,562.
Oil & Gas stocks got the boost due to a dip in global crude prices, with the index jumping 1.5 per cent. Auto stocks also remained strong. Metal struggled in today's session and shed 1 per cent. BPCL jumped 5 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries and Hero MotoCorp. Hindalco and JSW Steel contributed to the drag in the metal index.
December—
This again opened to be a roller coaster month with lots of ups and downs. Sensex bounced 721 points and again claimed the 60,000 mark to shut at 60,566. In the same way, Nifty went above 18,000 to close at 18,014, an increase of 207 points.
The Indian stock market remained strong on 26 December as Sensex closed above 60,500 and Nifty above the 18,000 mark. SBI, IndusInd Bank, and Hindalco hopped; Divi's Lab, Cipla, and Dr Reddy's dragged. PSU Bank, Metal, Media, and Realty gained, while Pharma alleviate
