BSE Sensex
Encyclopedia
The Bombay Stock Exchange SENSEX (portmanteau of sensitive and index) also referred to as BSE 30 is a free-float market capitalization-weighted stock market index
Stock market index
A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the stock market. Many indices are cited by news or financial services firms and are used as benchmarks, to measure the performance of portfolios such as mutual funds....

 of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange
The Bombay Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located on Dalal Street, Mumbai and is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. The equity market capitalization of the companies listed on the BSE was 1.63 trillion as of December 2010, making it the 4th largest stock exchange in Asia and the 8th largest...

. The 30 component companies which are some of the largest and most actively traded stocks, are representative of various industrial sectors
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 of the Indian economy. Published since January 1, 1986, the SENSEX is regarded as the pulse of the domestic stock markets in India. The base value of the SENSEX is taken as 100 on April 1, 1979, and its base year as 1978-79. On 25 July, 2001 BSE launched DOLLEX-30, a dollar-linked version of SENSEX. As of 21 April 2011, the market capitalisation of SENSEX was about (42.34% of market capitalization of BSE), while its free-float market capitalization was .

Calculation

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) regularly reviews and modifies its composition to be sure it reflects current market conditions. The index is calculated based on a free float capitalization 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. The free-float method, therefore, does not include restricted stocks, such as those held by promoters, government and strategic investors.

Initially, the index was calculated based on the ‘full market capitalization’ method. However this was shifted to the free float method with effect from September 1, 2003. Globally, the free float market capitalization is regarded as the industry best practice
Best practice
A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark...

.

As per free float capitalization 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 capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is multiplied by a free float factor to determine the free float market capitalization. Free float factor is also referred as adjustment factor. Free float factor represent the percentage of shares that are readily available for trading.

The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the free float market capitalization of 30 companies in the index by a number called index divisor.The divisor is the only link to original base period value of the SENSEX. It keeps the index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips, etc.

The index has increased by over ten times from June 1990 to the present. Using information from April 1979 onwards, the long-run rate of return on the BSE SENSEX works out to be 18.6% per annum, which translates to roughly 9% per annum after compensating for inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

.

Constituents

Following is the list of the component companies of SENSEX as on August 8, 2011
Code Name Sector Adj. Factor Weight in Index(%)
532977
Bajaj Auto Ltd
Bajaj Auto
Bajaj Auto is a major Indian vehicle manufacturer started by Jamnalal Bajaj from Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Chakan , Waluj and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal. The oldest plant at Akurdi now houses the R&D centre Ahead...


Automotive

0.55

1.6

532454

Bharti Airtel Ltd
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation...


Telecom

0.35

3

500103

BHEL Ltd

Capital Goods

0.35

2.2

500087

Cipla Ltd
Cipla
Cipla Limited is a prominent Indian pharmaceutical company, best-known outside its home country for manufacturing low-cost anti-AIDS drugs for HIV-positive patients in developing countries...


Pharmaceutical

0.6

1.2

533278

Coal India Ltd
Coal India Limited
Coal India Limited is an Indian state-controlled coal company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the world's largest coal miner with revenue exceeding 60,245 Crore . It was formerly owned entirely by the Union Government of India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of...


Power

0.1

2

532868

DLF Ltd

Construction

0.2

0.6

500010

HDFC Ltd

Finance

0.90

6.8

500180

HDFC Bank Ltd
HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank Limited is a major Indian financial services company based in India, incorporated in August 1994, after the Reserve Bank of India allowed establishing private sector banks. The Bank was promoted by the Housing Development Finance Corporation, a premier housing finance company of India...


Finance

0.85

7.1

500182

Hero Motorcorp Ltd

Automotive

0.50

1.43

500440

Hindalco Industries Ltd
Hindalco Industries
Hindalco Industries Ltd. is one of the world's largest Aluminium manufacturing company and is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. It is run by one of the world's youngest billionaires, Mr. K.M. Birla.-Financial information:...


Aluminum

0.6

1.5

500696

Hindustan Lever Ltd
Hindustan Lever Limited
Hindustan Unilever Limited is India's largest fast moving consumer goods company owned by the European company Unilever. The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a 52% majority stake....


FMCG

0.50

2.8

532174

ICICI Bank Ltd
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank Ltd. is India's second largest financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries in the areas of...


Finance

1.00

8.8

500209

Infosys Ltd
Infosys
Infosys Limited, formerly Infosys Technologies Limited is a global technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is the second largest IT exporter in India with 133,560 employees as of March 2011. It has offices in 33 countries and development centers in India, China,...


Information Technology

0.85

9.4

500875

ITC Ltd

FMCG

0.70

8.3

532532

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd

Housing Related

0.55

0.5

532286

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd
Jindal Steel
Jindal Steel and Power Limited is the most valuable private steel producer in India, with an annual turnover of over US $2.1 billion , Jindal Steel & Power Limited is a part of about US$ 12 billion diversified O. P. Jindal Group. JSPL is a leading player in Steel, Power, Mining, Oil & Gas and...


Steel

0.55

1.8

500510

Larsen & Toubro Ltd
Larsen & Toubro
Larsen & Toubro Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company has four main business sectors: technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing. L&T has an international presence, with a global spread of offices and factories, further...


Engineering

1

8

500520

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Mohammed...


Automotive

0.75

2.3

532500

Maruti Suzuki Ltd

Transport Equipments

0.50

1.3

532541

NTPC Ltd
National Thermal Power Corporation
NTPC Limited is the largest Indian state-owned energy service provider based in New Delhi, India. It is listed in Forbes Global 2000 for 2010 ranked it 341st in the world...


Power

0.15

1.2

500312

ONGC Ltd
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited is an Indian state-owned oil and gas company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is one of the largest Asia-based oil and gas exploration and production companies, and produces around 77% of India's total crude oil production and around 81% of...


Oil & Gas

0.20

3.1

500325

Reliance Industries Ltd
Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered at Mumbai, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone development and...


Oil & Gas

0.50

9.2

500112

SBI
State Bank of India
The State Bank of India is the largest Indian banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Mumbai, India. It is state-owned. The bank traces its ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest...

Finance
0.45

4.7

500900

Sterlite Industries Ltd
Sterlite Industries
Sterlite Industries India Ltd. is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc, a diversified and integrated metals and mining group.-Overview:The company engages primarily in the production of copper in India...


Metal, Metal Products, and Mining

0.45

1.4

524715

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd

Healthcare

0.40

1.5

532540

TCS Ltd
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services Limited is a global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology in Asia and second largest provider of business process outsourcing services in India...


Information Technology

0.3

3.8

500570

Tata Motors Ltd
Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. Part of the Tata Group, it was formerly known as TELCO...


Transport Equipments

0.55

2

500400

Tata Power Ltd
Tata Power
Tata Power is India’s oldest and largest private sector power utility with an installed generation capacity of over 2977 MW.On the 22 March 2011 it has announced partnership with Sunengy an Australian firm, to build India's first floating solar plant....


Power

0.70

1.6

500470

Tata Steel Ltd
Tata Steel
Tata Steel is a multinational steel company headquartered in Jamshedpur, India and part of Tata Group. It is the world's seventh-largest steel company, with an annual crude steel capacity of 31 million tonnes, and the largest private-sector steel company in India measured by domestic production...


Metal, Metal Products & Mining

0.70

2.7

507685

Wipro Ltd
Wipro
Wipro Limited formally Western India Products Limited is a global IT services and consulting company headquartered in Bangalore, India. As of 2011, Wipro is the second largest IT services company by turnover in India and employs more than 120,000 people worldwide as of March 2011...


Information Technology

0.20

1.4


Some of the historical replacements were:
  • DLF replaced Dr. Reddy's Lab
    Dr. Reddy's Laboratories
    Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. is an integrated pharmaceutical company focused on providing medicines through its three business segments: Global Generics segment, Pharmaceutical Services and Active Ingredients segment and Proprietary Products segment. The company was founded by Dr...

     on November 19, 2007.
  • Jaiprakash Associates Ltd replaced Bajaj Auto Ltd
    Bajaj Auto
    Bajaj Auto is a major Indian vehicle manufacturer started by Jamnalal Bajaj from Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Chakan , Waluj and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal. The oldest plant at Akurdi now houses the R&D centre Ahead...

     on March 14, 2008.
  • Sterlite Industries replaced Ambuja Cements on July 28, 2008.
  • Tata Power Company replaced Cipla Ltd. on July 28, 2008.
  • Sun Pharmaceutical Industries replaced Satyam Computer Services on January 8, 2009
  • Hero Honda Motors Ltd. replaced Ranbaxy on June 29, 2009
  • Cipla to replace Sun Pharma from May 3, 2010
  • Grasim replaced JSPL in 2010
  • Bajaj Auto replaced ACC
    ACC
    ACC may refer to:-Business:* ACC Limited, Indian cement manufacturer* ACCBank, Ireland* American Campus Communities, private student housing provider* American Communications Corp, cabling company in San Diego...

     from Dec 6th, 2010
  • Coal India replaced Reliance Infrastructure and Sun Pharmaceutical replaced Reliance Communications
    Reliance Communications
    Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...

     from Aug 8th, 2011

Milestones

Here is a timeline on the rise of the SENSEX through Indian stock market history.
  • 1000, July 25, 1990 - On July 25, 1990, the SENSEX touched the four-digit figure for the first time and closed at 1,001 in the wake of a good monsoon and excellent corporate results.

  • 2000, January 15, 1992 - On January 15, 1992, the SENSEX crossed the 2,000-mark and closed at 2,020 followed by the liberal economic policy initiatives undertaken by the then finance minister and current Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
    Manmohan Singh
    Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...

    .

  • 3000, February 29, 1992 - On February 29, 1992, the SENSEX surged past the 3000 mark in the wake of the market-friendly Budget announced by Manmohan Singh.

  • 4000, March 30, 1992 - On March 30, 1992, the SENSEX crossed the 4,000-mark and closed at 4,091 on the expectations of a liberal export-import policy. It was then that the Harshad Mehta
    Harshad Mehta
    Harshad Shantila Mehta was an Indian stockbroker. He is alleged to have engineered the rise in the BSE stock exchange in 1992. Exploiting several loopholes in the banking system, Mehta and his associates siphoned off funds from inter-bank transactions and bought shares heavily at a premium across...

     scam hit the markets and SENSEX witnessed unabated selling.

  • 5000, October 11, 1999 - On October 8, 1999, the SENSEX crossed the 5,000-mark as the Bharatiya Janata Party
    Bharatiya Janata Party
    The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

    -led coalition won the majority in the 13th Lok Sabha
    Lok Sabha
    The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

     election.

  • 6000, February 11, 2000 - On February 11, 2000, the information technology boom helped the SENSEX to cross the 6,000-mark and hit and all time high of 6,006.

  • 7000, June 21, 2005 - On June 20, 2005, the news of the settlement between the Ambani brothers boosted investor sentiments and the scrips of RIL
    Reliance Industries
    Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered at Mumbai, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone development and...

    , Reliance Energy
    Reliance Energy
    Reliance Infrastructure, formerly known as Reliance Energy and prior to that as Bombay Suburban Electric Supply , Its India's largest private sector enterprise in power utility and its a company under the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group banner, one of India's largest conglomerates. The...

    , Reliance Capital
    Reliance Capital
    Reliance Capital Limited is a Non-Banking Financial Company registered with the Reserve Bank of India under section 45-IA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. as a public limited company in 1986 and is now listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange .RCL has a net...

     and IPCL
    Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited
    Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited is a petrochemicals company in India. It was established on March 22, 1969, with a view to promote and encourage the use of plastics in India. Its business consists of polymers, synthetic fibre, fibre intermediaries, solvents, surfactants, industrial...

     made huge gains. This helped the SENSEX crossed 7,000 points for the first time.

  • 8000, September 8, 2005 - On September 8, 2005, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share index – the SENSEX - crossed the 8000 level following brisk buying by foreign and domestic funds in early trading.

  • 9000, December 9, 2005 - The SENSEX on November 28, 2005 crossed 9000 to touch 9000.32 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange on the back of frantic buying spree by foreign institutional investors and well supported by local operators as well as retail investors.

  • 10,000, February 7, 2006 - The SENSEX on February 6, 2006 touched 10,003 points during mid-session. The SENSEX finally closed above the 10,000-mark on February 7, 2006.

  • 11,000, March 27, 2006 - The SENSEX on March 21, 2006 crossed 11,000 and touched a peak of 11,001 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange for the first time. However, it was on March 27, 2006 that the SENSEX first closed at over 11,000 points.

  • 12,000, April 20, 2006 - The SENSEX on April 20, 2006 crossed 12,000 and touched a peak of 12,004 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange for the first time.

  • 13,000, October 30, 2006 - The SENSEX on October 30, 2006 crossed 13,000 for the first time. It touched a peak of 13,039.36 and finally closed at 13,024.26.

  • 14000, December 5, 2006 - The SENSEX on December 5, 2006 crossed 14,000.

  • 15,000, July 6, 2007 - The SENSEX on July 6, 2007 crossed 15,000 mark.

  • 16,000, September 19, 2007 - The SENSEX on September 19, 2007 crossed the 16,000 mark.

  • 17,000, September 26, 2007 - The SENSEX on September 26, 2007 crossed the 17,000 mark for the first time.

  • 18,000, October 9, 2007 - The SENSEX on October 9, 2007 crossed the 18,000 mark for the first time.

  • 19,000, October 15, 2007 - The SENSEX on October 15, 2007 crossed the 19,000 mark for the first time.

  • 20,000, October 29, 2007 - The SENSEX on October 29, 2007 crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time.

  • 21,000, Jan 08, 2008 - The SENSEX on January 8, 2008 touched all time peak of 21078 before closing at 20873.

  • November 5, 2010 - The SENSEX on November 5, 2010 closes at 20,893.6 with highest peak in two years.

May 2006

On May 22, 2006, the SENSEX plunged by 1100 points during intra-day trading, leading to the suspension of trading for the first time since May 17, 2004. The volatility of the SENSEX had caused investors to lose Rs 6 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

(US$131 billion) within seven trading sessions. The Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...

, 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
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution of India and controls the monetary policy of the rupee as well as US$300.21 billion of currency reserves. The institution was established on 1 April 1935 during the British Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of...

 and the Securities and Exchange Board of India
Securities and Exchange Board of India
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is the regulator for the securities market in India.-History:It was formed officially by the Government of India in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament...

 (SEBI), the SENSEX managed to move up 700 points, still 450 points in the red.

The SENSEX eventually recovered from the volatility, and on October 16, 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.
  • 13,000, October 30, 2006 - The SENSEX on October 30, 2006 crossed 13,000 and still riding high at the Bombay Stock Exchange for the first time. It took 135 days to reach 13,000 from 12,000. And 124 days to reach 13,000 from 12,500. On October 30, 2006 it touched a peak of 13,039.36 & closed at 13,024.26.

  • 14,000, December 5, 2006 - The SENSEX on December 5, 2006 crossed 14,000 and touched a peak of 14028 at 9.58AM(IST) while opening for the day December 5, 2006.

  • 15,000, July 6, 2007- The SENSEX on July 6, 2007 crossed another milestone and reached a magic figure of 15,000. it took almost 7 month and 1 day to touch such a historic miles

May 2009

On May 18, 2009, the SENSEX surged 2110.79 points from the previous closing of 12174.42 this leading to the suspension of trade for the whole day.This event created history in Dalal Street, by being the first ever time that trade had been suspended for an increase in value. This rally is primarily due to the victory of the UPA in the 15th General elections. Trading was open for that day only for 55 seconds. Initially 25 seconds and 30 seconds market reached upper freeze limit twice in that day itself.

Effects of the Subprime crisis in the U.S

On Monday July 23, 2007, the SENSEX touched a new height of 15,733 points. On July 27, 2007 the SENSEX witnessed a huge correction because of selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) 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 Wednesday August 1, 2007.
  • 16,000, September 19, 2007- The SENSEX (Sensitivity Index) on September 19, 2007 crossed the 16,000 mark and reached a historic peak of 16322 while closing. The bull hits because of the rate cut of 50 bit/s in the discount rate by the Fed chief Ben Bernanke
    Ben Bernanke
    Ben Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....

     on September 26, 2007 crossed the 17,000 mark for the first time, creating a record for the second fastest 1000 point gain in just 5 trading sessions. It failed however to sustain the momentum and closed below 17000. The SENSEX closed above 17000 for the first time on the following day. Reliance group has been the main contributor in this bull run, contributing 256 points. This also helped Mukesh Ambani's net worth to grow to over $50 billion or Rs.2 trillion. It was also during this record bull run that the SENSEX for the first time zoomed ahead of the Nikkei of Japan.

  • 18,000, October 9, 2007- The SENSEX crossed the 18k mark for the first time on October 9, 2007. The journey from 17k to 18k took just 8 trading sessions which is the third fastest 1000 point rise in the history of the SENSEX. The SENSEX closed at 18,280 at the end of day. This 788 point gain on October 9 was the second biggest single day absolute gains.

  • 19,000, October 15, 2007- The SENSEX crossed the 19k mark for the first time on October 15, 2007. It took just 4 days to reach from 18k to 19k. This is the fastest 1000 points rally ever and also the 640 point rally was the second highest single day rally in absolute terms. This made it a record 3000 point rally in 17 trading sessions overall.

Therefore the US Subprime crisis has a great effect even on INDIA.gold cross the psychological barrier.

Participatory notes issue

On October 16, 2007, SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of India) proposed curbs on participatory notes
Participatory notes
Participatory notes are instruments used by investors or hedge funds that are not registered with the SEBI to invest in Indian securities. Participatory notes are instruments that derive their value from an underlying financial instrument such as an equity share and, hence, the word, 'derivative...

 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 (October 17, 2007). Within a minute of opening trade, the SENSEX crashed by 1744 points or about 9% of its value - the biggest intra-day fall in Indian stock markets in absolute terms till then. This led to automatic suspension of trade for 1 hour. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...

 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.

This was, however not the end of the volatility. The next day (October 18, 2007), the SENSEX tumbled by 717.43 points — 3.83 per cent — to 17998.39. The slide continued the next day when the SENSEX fell 438.41 points to settle at 17559.98 at the end of the week, after touching the lowest level of that week at 17226.18 during the day.

After detailed clarifications from the SEBI chief M. Damodaran
M. Damodaran
Meleveetil Damodaran is currently an independent management consultant from India and a board member of Mahindra Satyam. Earlier he was the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India , India's financial markets regulator and before that he headed the IDBI Bank...

 regarding the new rules, the market made a 879-point gain on October 23, thus signalling the end of the PN crisis.
  • 20,000, October 29, 2007- The SENSEX crossed the 20k mark for the first time with a massive 734.5 point gain but closed below the 20k mark. It took 11 days to reach from 19k to 20k. The journey of the last 10,000 points was covered in just 869 sessions as against 7,297 sessions taken to touch the 10,000 mark from 1,000 levels. In 2007 alone, there were six 1,000-point rallies for the SENSEX.


January 2008

In the third week of January 2008, the SENSEX experienced huge falls along with other markets around the world. On January 21, 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
Indian Standard Time
Indian Standard Time is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments, although DST was used briefly during the Sino–Indian War of 1962 and the Indo–Pakistani Wars of 1965 and 1971...

, 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
Finance Minister of India
The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...

, 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%.
  • 9,975, October 17, 2008 - SENSEX crashes below the psychological 5 figure mark of 10K, following extremely negative global financial indications in US and other countries. Exactly one year back in October 2007, SENSEX had gone past the 20K mark.

  • 8701.07, October 24, 2008 lost 10.96% of its value on the intra day trade, the 3rd highest loss for a one day period in its history

May 2006

On May 22, 2006, the SENSEX plunged by 1100 points during intra-day trading, leading to the suspension of trading for the first time since May 17, 2004. The volatility of the SENSEX had caused investors to lose Indian rupees
Indian rupee sign
The Indian rupee sign is the currency sign used for the Indian rupee, the official currency of India. It is relatively new, the design only having been presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its selection through an open competition among Indian residents...

 6 lakh crore ($131 billion) within seven trading sessions. The Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...

, 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
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution of India and controls the monetary policy of the rupee as well as US$300.21 billion of currency reserves. The institution was established on 1 April 1935 during the British Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of...

 and the Securities and Exchange Board of India
Securities and Exchange Board of India
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is the regulator for the securities market in India.-History:It was formed officially by the Government of India in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament...

 (SEBI), the SENSEX managed to move up 700 points, still 450 points in the red.

The SENSEX eventually recovered from the volatility, and on October 16, 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.

Effects of the subprime crisis in the U.S.

On July 23, 2007, the SENSEX touched a new high of 15,733 points. On July 27, 2007 the SENSEX witnessed a huge correction 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 August 1, 2007.

Participatory notes issue

On October 16, 2007, SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of India) proposed curbs on participatory notes
Participatory notes
Participatory notes are instruments used by investors or hedge funds that are not registered with the SEBI to invest in Indian securities. Participatory notes are instruments that derive their value from an underlying financial instrument such as an equity share and, hence, the word, 'derivative...

 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 (October 17, 2007). Within a minute of opening trade, the SENSEX crashed by 1744 points or about 9% of its value - the biggest intra-day fall in Indian stock markets in absolute terms till then. This led to automatic suspension of trade for 1 hour. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram
P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...

 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.

This was, however not the end of the volatility. The next day (October 18, 2007), the SENSEX tumbled by 717.43 points — 3.83 per cent — to 17998.39. The slide continued the next day when the SENSEX fell 438.41 points to settle at 17559.98 at the end of the week, after touching the lowest level of that week at 17226.18 during the day.

After detailed clarifications from the SEBI chief M. Damodaran
M. Damodaran
Meleveetil Damodaran is currently an independent management consultant from India and a board member of Mahindra Satyam. Earlier he was the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India , India's financial markets regulator and before that he headed the IDBI Bank...

 regarding the new rules, the market made a 879-point gain on October 23, thus signalling the end of the PN crisis.

January 2008

In the third week of January 2008, the SENSEX experienced huge falls along with other markets around the world. On January 21, 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
Indian Standard Time
Indian Standard Time is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments, although DST was used briefly during the Sino–Indian War of 1962 and the Indo–Pakistani Wars of 1965 and 1971...

, 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
Finance Minister of India
The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...

, 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%.

SENSEX falls

Some major single-day falls of the SENSEX have occurred on the following dates:
  1. January 21, 2008 --- 1,408.35 points
  2. Oct 24, 2008---1070.63 points
  3. March 17, 2008 --- 951.03 points
  4. July 6, 2009 --- 870 points
  5. January 22, 2008 --- 857 points
  6. February 11, 2008 --- 833.98 points
  7. May 18, 2006 --- 826 points
  8. October 10, 2008 --- 800.10 points
  9. March 13, 2008 --- 770.63 points
  10. December 17, 2007 --- 769.48 points
  11. January 7, 2009 --- 749.05 points
  12. March 31, 2007 --- 726.85 points
  13. October 6, 2008 --- 724.62 points
  14. October 17, 2007 --- 717.43 points
  15. September 15, 2008 --- 710.00 points
  16. September 22, 2011 --- 704.00 points
  17. January 18, 2007 --- 687.82 points
  18. November 21, 2007 --- 678.18 points
  19. August 16, 2007 --- 642.70 points
  20. August 17, 2009 --- 626.71 points
  21. June 27, 2008 --- 600.00 points
  22. February 24, 2011 --- 545.92 points
  23. November 12, 2010 --- 432 Points
  24. November 16, 2010 --- 444.55 Points
  25. February 4, 2011 --- 441.92 Points

External links

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