The year 2015 did not bring smiles to stock market investors, with the S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty closing on 31 December, 2015, with a loss of 5% and 4%, respectively, over 31 December, 2014.

The 30-scrip Sensex closed at 26,117.54 on Thursday,  as against 27,499.42 on 31 December, 2014, translating into a decline of 5.02%. 

The 50-scrip Nifty ended the day at 7,946.35, a fall of 4.05% over its 31 December, 2014, closing of 8,282.70.

The 52-week high for Sensex was 30,024 on 4 March, 2015, while the benchmark index touched its 52-week low of 24,833.54 on 8 September, 2015.

The Nifty's 52-week high and low were 9,119.20 and 7,539.50, respectively. 

It was an eventful year for markets, starting with the presentation of the first full-year General Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had projected the country's GDP to grow 8-8.5% in FY2016. The government revised it down to 7-7.5% in its economic review this month. 

On the external trade front, the performance was dismal, with the country recording its 12th straight month of decline in exports in November, though the impact of falling imports aided by a crash in global crude oil prices saw the current account deficit at $8.2 billion in the second quarter, or 1.6% of the GDP.

Another events that impacted the markets was the widely-expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. It finally came on 16 December, when the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points, but did not result in any flight of capital by FIIs, as was widely feared. In fact, the Sensex rose 309 points a day later.

The other two events that impacted the Sensex were the impasse on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and the proposed steep hike in H-1B and L-1 visas by the Obama administration.

Prominent 1-year Sensex gainers

Some of the Sensex constituents that bucked the trend during the year are Infosys, Wipro, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki.

Prominent 1-year Senex losers 

Scrips that dragged the Sensex over the one-year period include TCS, ICICI Bank, L&T, ONGC, Axis Bank and ITC.

Last day's trading

The Sensex closed the day at 26,117.54, a gain of 157 points, or 0.61%, while the Nifty too ended with a gain of 50 points at 7,946.55. 

The Sensex and the Nifty did well on the last trading day of the year to hit a more-than-four-week closing high. 

Gainers and losers 

HDFC, GAIL (India), Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Wipro were the top Sensex gainers of the day, while Axis Bank, Hero Motocorp, L&T, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India lost.

On the NSE, HDFC, Zee Enterprises, HCL Technologies and Infosys were the prominent gainers, while PNB, Axis Bank, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Hero Motocorp were losers.

Some of the stock that hit a new 52-week high on 31 December, 2015 included Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Petronet LNG, Biocon, Reliance Infrastructure, Arvind and Berger Paints.

Many public sector bank shares hit a new 52-week low. These included State Bank of India, Bank of India,Vijaya Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Bank.