Not so long ago, on April 26, the Indian stock markets celebrated a historic event - that of the benchmark index Sensex closing above 30,000 points for the first time. Exactly eleven weeks since then, it is celebration time again as the Sensex crossed another milestone of 32,000 points on Thursday. Thanks to the low inflation data release on Wednesday, the Sensex opened with a wide-gap of over 90 points and cross the psychological 32,000 mark. So what has moved the index from 30,000 to 32,000 - a strong 6 per cent rally in just less than three months? Here's a look :
Stock that moved
Among the Sensex 30 stocks, Tata Steel has won the race by surging 23 per cent during the Sensex’s journey from 30,000 to 32,000. The trigger for this sharp up move was the deal struck to clear its UK Pension liabilities. This move helped the company take forward its merger talks with a German based company. Tata Steel moved up from around ₹430 to the current levels of ₹560 over this period. Incidentally, Tata Steel is the best performer in the Sensex basket so far this year. The stock is up a whopping 43 per cent (year-to-date) so far this year.
The Consumer goods major, Hindustan Unilever is the second best performer and its stock price has surged 21 per cent in this period. It is followed by ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki. Both these stocks have risen 18 per cent and ITC, up 16 per cent stands fifth on the list. The successful roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July has boosted the stocks in the consumer non-durable goods and automobile sector. Lower tax on cigarettes under the GST has boosted the stock of ITC and took the prices to its all time high of ₹353 earlier this month.
Sector watch
Among the sectors, the BSE FMCG index has outperformed others by surging 13 per cent when the Sensex moved from 30,000 to 32,000. The Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act coming into effect from May has aided the BSE Realty index to surge 11 per cent, the second best performing sector during this period. The BSE Bankex and the BSE Auto index, both up 7 per cent comes next on the table.
The laggards
Though the Indian benchmark indices have been surging to record highs this year, sectors like the health care and energy have been underperforming. The BSE Healthcare and the BSE Oil & Gas indices are down 4 per cent each during the period when the Sensex has risen from 30,000 to 32,000. Among the Sensex 30 stock, Lupin and Sun Pharmaceuticals, both from the healthcare sector were the worst performers. These stocks are down 17 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. These are followed by the stock from the energy sector, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Coal India. Both these stocks are down 11 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.