The year 2018 proved to be a dampener for investors as they lost Rs 7.25 lakh crore amid unpredictable market conditions. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of the BSE-listed companies slumped by Rs 7,25,401.31 crore to Rs 1,44,48,465.69 crore last year.
The BSE benchmark Sensex has gained 2,011.5 points, or 5.90 percent, in 2018.
From its all-time peak of 38,989.65 scaled on August 29 this year, the Sensex has fallen by 2,921.32 points, or 7.5 percent, to 36,068.33.
Similarly, on NSE, investors lost Rs 7.03 lakh crore in 2018.
The market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms slipped from Rs 1,49,82,296 crore in 2017 end to Rs 1,42,79,083 crore at the end of last year.
Marketmen said the later part of the year was demanding for the equity markets due to both global and domestic triggers.
"In 2019, instant attention could be on the imminent general elections, but the basic direction of the market would be, to a large extent, determined by the interest rate policy of the Fed and the RBI, direction of oil prices, as also further developments in the context of the US-China tariff war, and fears of a hard Brexit," Joseph Thomas, head research at Emkay Wealth Management said.
However, Indian indices mostly outperformed their global peers last year. While the Sensex gained 5.90% since the beginning of this year, Nifty clocked 3.15% returns during the same period. On the other hand, the Dow Jones index was down 6.70% since the beginning of this year and Nasdaq lost 4.62% during the same period.
