Sensex gains a moderate 28 points in last session of 2013

The benchmark Sensex ended the last trading day of the year with a moderate gain of 28 points in a listless session, led by heavyweight Reliance Industries, to clock its second annual increase in a row.

The year saw the index rise to an all-time high as foreign investors pumped in $20.1 billion into equities.

Ten of the 12 BSE sectoral indices advanced today, led by power and oil & gas stocks. The metal and FMCG sectors fell.

Tata Power and Wipro topped the 17 gainers on the index while BHEL and Maruti Suzuki were among the losers.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex opened higher and traded in a narrow range of over 100 points before ending at 21,170.68, a rise of 27.67 points or 0.13 per cent. In 2013, it added 1,743.97 points or 8.98 per cent. The Sensex had jumped almost 26 per cent last year.

The broader, 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange firmed up by 12.9 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 6,304.00. It gained 398.90 points, or 6.76 per cent, in 2013.

The Sensex had climbed to a record high of 21,483.74 on December 9 after the BJP's wins in three state elections.

Other factors that drove investor sentiment this year were the rupee, which fell to a record low in August, the US Federal Reserve's plan to taper its stimulus programme and the Reserve Bank's interest rate increases to combat inflation.

"The concerns over the next few months will be on the pace of the Fed tapering and on the outcome of the general elections," said Dipen Shah, Head - Private Client Group Research at Kotak Securities.

"While an accelerated taper will impact liquidity flows into India, the absence of a clear mandate for any particular political party will be negative from the reforms perspective."

Foreign institutional investors purchased shares worth a net Rs 128.9 crore on Monday.

Overseas investors have bought a net Rs 1.13 lakh crore ($20.1 billion) of Indian shares in 2013 compared with Rs 1.3 lakh crore ($24 billion) in 2012, as per Sebi data.

In terms of market capitalisation, investor wealth rose by Rs 1.10 lakh crore over the year to about Rs 70.32 lakh crore.

Asian stocks ended better on the last trading day of the year, with key indices in China, Hong Kong and Singapore moving up. The Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index fell. The markets in Japan and South Korea were closed.

Barring China, the worst-performing stock market in 2013, Asian indices ended the year in positive territory, with Japan leading.

In Europe, the markets were trading higher as they headed for gains in 2013. Indices in France and the UK were up while Germany was closed.

In the domestic market, 17 Sensex shares advanced, led by Tata Power 2.81 per cent, Wipro 1.26 per cent , Reliance 1.06 per cent, Axix Bank 1 per cent and Hindalco 0.66 per cent.

The losers included BHEL, which fell 1.62 pc, followed by Maruti Suzuki 0.78 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra 0.63 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.58 per cent and Infosys 0.46 per cent.

Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Power firmed up by 0.60 per cent, Oil & Gas 0.52 per cent, Healthcare 0.21 per cent, Capital Goods 0.21 per cent and Realty 0.17 per cent.

In 2013, shares in the IT, Teck, Healthcare, FMCG, Auto and Oil & Gas sectors notched up gains while those in the Realty, Consumer Durables, Banking, Capital Goods, Metal and Power segments suffered losses.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,503 stocks gained, 1,058 declined and 158 ruled steady. Total turnover fell to Rs 1,658.21 crore from Rs 2,561.37 crore on Monday.