As the year 2018 comes to an end, the Sensex and Nifty look set to close on a positive note despite witnessing volatile phases of trade during the period. While the Sensex has logged over 5% gains since the beginning of this year, the Nifty has gained nearly 3% during the same period. But the gains look mediocre when compared to the rise the benchmark indices clocked in 2017. The BSE Sensex ended 2017 with a gain of 29.58% while the NSE Nifty rose 30.28%.
The strong fundamentals of the Indian economy, falling commodity and crude prices have insulated the Indian market from the global stock market slowdown.
While the Dow Jones index is down 7.52% since the beginning of this year, Nasdaq has lost 5.43% during the same period.
The negative sentiment is widespread in Asia too, where Nikkei 225 index has lost 11.42% in 2018.
Hang Seng, another key Asian market has lost 14.50% in 2018.
After wading through the sea of losses in the global markets, we come across numerous bright spots in the Indian indices. The constituents of key benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, have recorded growth in double digits during 2018. Here's a look at top 10 gainers among them.
Bajaj Finance: The non-banking finance company is engaged in lending and allied activities. It focuses on consumer lending, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) lending, commercial lending, rural lending, fixed deposits and value-added services. Its stock has gained 47.21% on Nifty since the beginning of this year.
TCS: The information technology stock is ranked at the top in terms of market capitalisation of all the listed companies on the bourses. Its market capitalisation on the BSE stood at Rs 7,28,825.73 crore. The stock has gained 44.91% on the Sensex and 44.76% on Nifty since the beginning of this year.
Tech Mahindra: The information technology stock has gained 41.04% since the beginning of this year. The Nifty company has its headquarters in Pune and is part of the Mahindra Group, in partnership with British Telecommunications Plc (BT).
Hindustan Unilever : The Hindustan Unilever stock which represents the fast moving consumer goods industry has gained 34.37% on Sensex and 33.79% on Nifty since the beginning of this year. Its business comprises home and personal care, foods and refreshments.
Infosys: IT firm Infosys is the third IT firm to among the top 10 performers on the benchmark indices. Its stock has gained 28.28% on Sensex and 28.05% on Nifty since the beginning of this year.
Reliance Industries: The stock of the Mukesh Ambani-owned conglomerate has gained 23.89% on Sensex since the beginning of this year. It is ranked second in terms of market capitalisation on BSE with a value of Rs 706,908 crore.
The stock which turned ex bonus in September 2017 has risen substantially on the back of solid quarterly results this year.
Asian Paints: The stock has seen 22.50% rise since the beginning of this year. The Mumbai-based firm is among the top players in the industry logging sales of Rs 16,887 crore for the fiscal ended March 2018. The stock is among the most expensive among its peers such as Kansai Nerolac, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Shalimar Paints among others.
Bajaj Finserv: Bajaj Finserv is a holding company for various financial services businesses of Bajaj Group. The company is engaged in the business of promoting financial services, such as finance, insurance and wealth management, through its investments in subsidiaries and joint ventures. Its stock has risen 21.99% on Nifty since the beginning of this year.
Kotak Mahindra Bank: The stock of the private lender has been an outperformer in the banking sector this year. It gained 21.92% on the Sensex in 2018. The bank's private sector peers include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES Bank.
ICICI Bank: The private sector lender has gained 15.32% on the Sensex since the beginning of this year. The lender's business segments are retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury, other banking, Life insurance, General insurance and others.
Edited by Aseem Thapliyal