BSE SENSEX


The BSE SENSEX is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange. The 30 component companies which are some of the largest and most actively traded stocks, are representative of various industrial sectors of the Indian economy. Published since 1 January 1986, the S&P BSE SENSEX is regarded as the pulse of the domestic stock markets in India. The base value of the SENSEX was taken as 100 on 1 April 1979 and its base year as 1978–79. On 25 July 2001 BSE launched DOLLEX-30, a dollar-linked version of the SENSEX.
The normal trading time for equity market is between 9:15 am to 03:30 pm, Monday to Friday.
As of 28 Feb 2020, the full market capitalisation of SENSEX was about while its free-float market capitalisation was. During 2008–12, Sensex 30 Index share of BSE market capitalisation fell from 49% to 25% due to the rise of sectoral indices like BSE PSU, Bankex and BSE-TECk.

Etymology

The term Sensex was coined by Deepak Mohoni, a stock market analyst in 1989. BSE Sensitive Index then was at about 750 points. it is a portmanteau of the words Sensitive and Index.

Calculation

The BSE has some reviews and modifies its composition to be sure it reflects current market conditions. The index is calculated based on a free float capitalisation method, a variation of the market capitalisation method. Instead of using a company's outstanding shares it uses its float, or shares that are readily available for trading. Free Floating capital implies total capitalization less Directors shareholding.
As per free float capitalisation methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalisation of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by corporate actions, replacement of scrips.
The index has increased by over twenty five times from June 1990 to the present. Using information from April 1979 onwards, the long-run rate of return on the S&P BSE SENSEX works out to be 18.6% per annum.

Constituents

Record values

Milestones

The following is a timeline on the rise of the SENSEX through Indian stock market history.

May–December 2006

On 22 May 2006, the SENSEX plunged by 1,100 points during intra-day trading, leading to the suspension of trading for the first time since 17 May 2004. The volatility of the SENSEX had caused investors to lose Rs 6 trillion within seven trading sessions. The then Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram, made an unscheduled press statement when trading was suspended to assure investors that nothing was wrong with the fundamentals of the economy, and advised retail investors to stay invested. When trading resumed after the reassurances of the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the SENSEX managed to move up 700 points, but still finished the session 457 points in the red.
The SENSEX eventually recovered from the volatility, and on 16 October 2006, the SENSEX closed at an all-time high of 12,928.18 with an intra-day high of 12,953.76. This was a result of increased confidence in the economy and reports that India's manufacturing sector grew by 11.1% in August 2006.
On 23 July 2007, the SENSEX touched a new high of 15,733 points. On 27 July 2007 the SENSEX witnessed a huge decline because of selling by Foreign Institutional Investors and global cues to come back to 15,160 points by noon. Following global cues and heavy selling in the international markets, the BSE SENSEX fell by 615 points in a single day on 1 August 2007.
On 16 October 2007, SEBI proposed curbs on participatory notes which accounted for roughly 50% of FII investment in 2007. SEBI was not happy with P-notes because it was not possible to know who owned the underlying securities, and hedge funds acting through P-notes might therefore cause volatility in the Indian markets.
However the proposals of SEBI were not clear and this led to a knee-jerk crash when the markets opened on the following day. Within a minute of opening trade, the SENSEX crashed by 1,744 points or about 9% of its value – the biggest intra-day fall in Indian stock markets in absolute terms till then. This led to the automatic suspension of trade for one hour. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram issued clarifications, in the meantime, that the government was not against FIIs and was not immediately banning PNs. After the market opened at 10:55 am, the index staged a comeback and ended the day at 18715.82, down 336.04 from the last day's close.
However, this would not be the end of the volatility. The next day, the SENSEX tumbled by 717.43 points – 3.83 per cent – to close at 17,998.39 points. The slide continued the next day, when the SENSEX fell 438.41 points to settle at 17,559.98 to the end of the week, after touching the lowest level of that week at 17,226.18 during the day.
After detailed clarifications from the SEBI chief M. Damodaran regarding the new rules, the market made an 879-point gain on 23 October, thus signalling the end of the PN crisis.
On 18 May 2009, the SENSEX surged up 2,110.79 points to close at 14,285.21, from its previous closing of 12,174.42, for its largest single day rally. Less than a month later, on 4 June 2009, the SENSEX would cross the 15,000 mark.
However, the SENSEX remained volatile during the summer of 2009. The SENSEX plunged by 869.65 points on 6 July 2009, the day of Union Budget presentation in Parliament on concerns over high fiscal deficit. This was the biggest Budget-day loss for the index. On 17 August 2009, the SENSEX lost 626.71 points.
Once again, the SENSEX would recover from the volatility. On 7 September 2009, the SENSEX crossed the 16,000 mark, closing at 16,016.32 points. The index would gain 3,000 points over the next 12 months, as the SENSEX crossed the 19,000 mark on 13 September 2010, closing at 19,208.33 points.
Also see Stock market crashes in India

January 2008

In the third week of January 2008, the SENSEX experienced huge falls along with other markets around the world. On 21 January 2008, the SENSEX saw its highest ever loss of 1,408 points at the end of the session. The SENSEX recovered to close at 17,605.40 after it tumbled to the day's low of 16,963.96, on high volatility as investors panicked following weak global cues amid fears of a recession in the US.
The next day, the BSE SENSEX index went into a free fall. The index hit the lower circuit breaker in barely a minute after the markets opened at 10 am. Trading was suspended for an hour. On reopening at 10.55 am IST, the market saw its biggest intra-day fall when it hit a low of 15,332, down 2,273 points. However, after reassurance from the Finance Minister of India, the market bounced back to close at 16,730 with a loss of 875 points.
Over the course of two days, the BSE SENSEX in India dropped from 19,013 on Monday morning to 16,730 by Tuesday evening or a two-day fall of 13.9%. Less than a month later, on 11 February 2008, the SENSEX lost 833.98 points, when Reliance Power fell below its IPO price in its debut trade after a high-profile public offer.

March 2008

The free fall of the SENSEX accelerated in March 2008. The month started out with the Sensex losing 900.84 points on 3 March 2008, on concerns emanating from growing credit losses in the US. This would be the first of four one-day falls of greater than 700 points during the month. On 13 March 2008, the SENSEX plummeted another 770.63 points on global economic jitters.
The month ended with the SENSEX shedding 726.85 points on 31 March 2008, after heavy selling in blue-chip stocks on global economic fears.
The SENSEX dropped by 749.05 points on 7 January 2009, when the Satyam fraud came to light.
The index crossed the historical mark of 30,000 after repo rate cut announcement by RBI.
The index plummeted by over 1,624.51 points on 24 August 2015, the then worst one-day point plunge in the index's history.

2020

On 9 March 2020, Sensex tumbled down by 1941.67 points amid the fears of coronavirus pandemic and Yes Bank crisis. This was the second worst single-day fall in the history, where the investors lost ₹ 6.50 lakh crores.
While on 12 March 2020, the index plunged down by 2919.26 points, the second–worst fall in the history, ending in red to a 33-month low at 32,778.14. The fall wiped off ₹ 11.2 lakh crores wealth.
On Friday, the 13th March, trading was halted for 45 minutes for the first time in 12 years since January 2008 due to lower circuit. Sensex touched a low of 29,687.52 down by 3090.62 points. However, after the 45-minute halt, the index saw biggest intra-day recovery by 5,380 points to end up by 1325 points.
Continuing the losing streak, wealth worth ₹14.22 lakh crore was erased on 23 March 2020 as BSE SENSEX lost 3,934.72 points to end at 25,981.24.
As on 10 June 2020, Sensex have recovered to 34,136.52.

Major falls

On the following dates, the SENSEX index suffered major single-day falls at close :
S.No.DatePointsReason
1570
2565
3463
4826
5453
6457
7617
8615
9642.70
10717.43
11678.18
12769.48
13687.82
141408.35Due to the US Subprime Mortgage Crisis.
15875
16833.98
17900.84
18770.63
19951.03
20726.85
21600
22710
23724.62
24792.17
25704
26749.05
27869.65
28626.71
29432
30444.55
31441.92
32545.92
33704
34477.82
35430.65
36455.10
37526.41
38449.22
39769.41Due to depreciation of the Indian Rupee.
40590.05
41651.47
42451.32
43517.97
44538.12
45854.86
46498.82
47490.52
48604.17
49654.25
50722
511624.51Driven by the meltdown in the Chinese Stock market.
52541.14
53537.55
54554.50
55807.07
56698.86Driven by 2016 US Election Results.
57839.91Driven by Union budget.
58806.47Panic Fall, due to Oil price Increase and rupee fall against US Dollar.
59800.51Panic Fall, due to Oil price Increase and rupee fall against US Dollar.
608 July 2019792.82Driven by Union Budget and global equity sell off.
6113 August 2019624
6222 August 2019587.44Due to concerns about slowing Indian Economy.
626 January 2020787.98
63987.96Driven by Union Budget 2020-21.
6428 February 20201448.37Driven by Coronavirus outbreak.
656 March 2020893.99Due to global sell-off driven by Coronavirus concerns.
669 March 20201941.67Due to coronavirus concerns.
6712 March 20202919.26Due to Coronavirus concerns.
6816 March 20202713.41Due to Coronavirus Concerns.
6917 March 2020810.98Due to Coronavirus concerns and fears of recession.
7018 March 20201709.58Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7119 March 2020581.28Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7223 March 20203934.72Due to Coronavirus Pandemic and nationwide lockdown.
731 April 20201203.18Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
743 April 2020674.36Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7524 April 2020535.86Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
764 May 20202002.27Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7714 May 2020885.72Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7818 May 20201068.75Due to Coronavirus Pandemic.
7911 June 2020708.68Driven by global equity sell-off.

Major Single Day Highs

N.DatePoints
17 April 20202476.26
22,110.79
320 September 20191921.15
425 March 20201,861.75
520 March 20201627.73