Market Wrap: Sensex, Nifty end in the red in last session of the year; concerns over inflation, rate hikes linger

Frontline indices the Sensex and the Nifty closed in negative territory on the last trading session of the calendar year 2022.

Global cues were weak amid rapidly rising Covid cases in China. Moreover, the concerns over inflation, rate hikes, recession and geopolitical tensions are expected to keep investors on tenterhooks for most of 2023.

Sensex opened 195 points higher at 61,329.16 and rose 259 points to hit the intraday high of 61,392.68. However, the index witnessed a sharp selloff in the final hour of trade which dragged it 390 points lower to 60,743.71.

The Sensex closed 293 points, or 0.48 percent, lower at 60,840.74 and the Nifty50 ended at 18,105.30, down 86 points, or 0.47 percent.

Mid and smallcaps outperformed; the BSE Midcap index rose 0.37 percent while the Smallcap index ended with a gain of 0.76 percent.

The Sensex rose 4.44 percent while the Nifty moved up by 4.33 percent in 2022. The BSE Midcap index rose 1.38 percent but the BSE Smallcap index fell 1.80 percent in 2022.

The rupee rose 9 paise to end at 82.72 per dollar. Crude oil's volatility and the equity market's weakness capped the rupee's gains. Brent Crude traded near the $84 per barrel mark.

Top Sensex gainers: Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel ended as the top gainer stocks in the Sensex index.

Top Sensex laggards: ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Larsen & Toubro ended as the top laggard stocks in the benchmark index.

Sectoral picture

With a gain of 1.51 percent, Nifty PSU Bank ended as the top sectoral gainer, followed by the Nifty Realty index which rose 0.95 percent.

On the flip side, Nifty FMCG slipped 0.76 percent, closing as the top sectoral loser. Nifty Bank and Financial Services lost 0.61 percent and 0.57 percent respectively.

Experts' view on markets

"Investors remained concerned over the economic outlook for the new year, underpinned by growing fears of recession. The ongoing volatility is expected to be sustained in the near term because of high-interest rates and a slowing economy. We believe that value buying is the theme of 2023. Fair valuation, steady earnings, and a robust demand scenario will be the cutting parameters," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Technical view by experts

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas observed that the Nifty registered a new all-time high on December 1, 2022, and entered a short-term correction phase thereon.

The index corrected for three consecutive weeks after which it witnessed some relief in the last week of December 2022 as it received support near the 20 WMA.

"The Nifty posted a positive weekly close whereas for the month of December the index has formed a bearish outside bar and an engulfing bear candle on the monthly chart. This shows that the index can remain under pressure in the short term," said Ratnaparkhi.

"The daily chart shows that a rising trendline is acting as a resistance along with the key DMAs. Thus the index can witness a short-term consolidation in the range of 17,800-18,400. Once the short-term consolidation phase is over then the index will be set to resume its larger up trend and can head towards the all-time high of 18,887 in the next couple of months," said Ratnaparkhi.

Key market data

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.