Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended the year 2022 on a positive note despite the volatility in the form of the Russia-Ukraine war, rising interest rates, record outflows by foreign institutional investors and fear of Covid at the fag-end of the year. The 30-share BSE barometer Sensex gained 2,586.92 points, or 4.4 per cent, to 60,840.74 on December 30, 2022 against 58253.8 on December 31, 2021. Likewise, the 50-share NSE Nifty index added 721.25 points, or 4.3 per cent, to 18,105.30 in the past 12 months.
Top Gainers
However, select stocks in the broader markets have managed to double investor wealth during the year. With a rally of 200 per cent, Adani Power stood as the top gainer in the BSE 500 index. Shares of the company jumped to Rs 299.40 on December 30, 2022 from Rs 99.80 on December 31 last year. They were followed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (up 184 per cent), Lloyds Metals & Energy (up 144 per cent), UCO Bank (up 142 per cent) and Bharat Dynamics (up 141 per cent).
Varun Beverages, Bank of Baroda, RHI Magnesita India, Adani Enterprises, The Great Eastern Shipping Company, Adani Total Gas, Hindustan Aeronautics and Punjab & Sind Bank also rallied between 100 per cent and 130 per cent, respectively, in 2022
Going ahead, market watchers believe that the start of the capex supercycle will pick up pace in 2023. This will have a positive effect on several sectors.
“Financial companies will be among the biggest gainers. In 2023, domestic consumption will be a major contributor to the Indian market. Given the size of the working population in India, increased income growth would lead to greater demand. Additionally, a variety of industries will be impacted by the costs associated with infrastructure improvements. This positive sentiment will cause stock values to increase,” said Marc Despallieres, Chief Strategy and Trading Officer, Vantage.
Top Losers
Coming to not-so-happy stocks of 2022, data showed that a dozen of stocks in the BSE 500 index eroded over 50 per cent of investor wealth in the past 12 months. Shares of Brightcom Group tanked the most by 72 per cent. They were followed by Tanla Platforms (down 62 per cent), Metropolis Healthcare (down 61 per cent), One97 Communications (down 60 per cent), Gland Pharma (down 59 per cent), Zensar Technologies (down 59 per cent) and Zomato (down 56 per cent). FSN E-Commerce Ventures, PB Fintech, Quess Corp and Samvardhana Motherson International also lost somewhere between 50 per cent and 56 per cent.
Market outlook 2023
Analysts hold mixed views on the market for 2023. Narendra Solanki, Head-Equity Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers believes that Dalal Street is expected to see tepid returns next year due to increased odds of a global recession, geopolitical risk impacting inflation and central bank’s continuing hawkish stance to bring down inflation.
Meanwhile, there are hopes that markets will be eyeing support from earnings across sectors and key updates in the geopolitical world, mainly the Russia-Ukraine war.
On the other hand, ICICI Securities sees Sensex at 71,600 level by December 2023, indicating an upside of around 17 per cent. For Nifty, the brokerage has a target of 21,500 level.
“Nifty earnings are seen growing at around 15 per cent CAGR in FY22-25. This is primarily driven by improved asset quality and credit growth revival in index-heavy BFSI space, pick-up in capex activity and consequent execution in capital goods domain, margins & profit recovery in auto, FMCG, metals, pharma and oil & gas space,” ICICI Securities said in a report.
Also Read: Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas, ITC, SBI, ICICI Bank: 5 stocks that added more m-cap than RIL in 2022