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 Market Commentary 

Budget turmoil, Global concerns crash Indian equities; Mkts lose 2%

Indian mkts ended lower for fifth straight week led by weak global environment and confusing Budget 2013. The Sensex was down by 2.06% and the Nifty fell 2.23% for the week ended March 01, 2013.

Major Headlines for the week:

• Union Budget 2013-14: Lacks pragmatism; creates confusion 
• Railway Budget 2013-14: No hike in passenger fares
• Bond issue declines 78% in FY13 as loan demand falls
• Union Budget 2013-14: Announcements that matter!
• India HSBC PMI rises to 54.2 in Feb 2013
• Q3FY2013 GDP declines to 4.5%

Indian indices:
The Indian stock markets remained highly volatile for the entire week; the Sensex and Nifty slipped over 2% in the 9th trading week of 2013. There was no respite for the Indian markets this week due to European jitters, rupee hitting six week low. Selling pressure across the board kept the sentiments under pressure. Equities across the globe witnessed profit booking as the investors moved towards less riskier assets and declined for the fifth straight week. Key benchmarks mirrored the negative sentiments; markets fell in two out of the five trading sessions of the week.

Disappointment hovered the D Street and investors could not digest the Finance Minister P Chidambaram's Budget 2013 speech in which he announced the hike in surcharge on corporate tax for domestic companies and dividend distribution tax. Union Budget 2013-14 proved to be a complete non event dragging NSE Nifty below the psychological 5800 mark during the week.

The BSE Sensex declined 398.49 points or 2.06% to settle at 18918.52 while NSE Nifty dropped 130.06 points or 2.23% to settle at 5,719.70 in the week ended March 01, 2013.

Weekly market trend from February 25 - March 01, 2013:

•  On Monday, (March 25, 2013), the Indian markets witnessed a volatile trading session that led to a flat end owing to heavy selling pressure in the mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The Sensex and the Nifty rose 0.08%. Sudden mid-cap crash triggered by huge sell orders placed by certain connected entities and the matter was being probed by SEBI, sources said. The Sensex settled at 19331.69, up by 14.68 points, while the Nifty shut shop at 5854.75, up by 4.45 points.

• Indian markets dipped over 1.6% each on February 26, 2013 on global jitters and not so great Railway Budget 2013-14 which was presented by the Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal in the lower house of the Parliament. Heavy selling in index heavyweights and Rail stocks dragged markets lower. Nifty marked its longest losing streak since November 27, 2012. Railway budget hinted scarcity of funds as a concern and on a rising cost of fuel and electricity and other expenses, ministry preferred to restrict capex and raised freight rate only while kept passenger fare untouched. The Sensex closed at 19015.14, down by 316.55 points and the Nifty fell by 93.40 points to settle at 5761.35 in trade today.

• On February 27, 2013, the Indian markets rose after the government raised the growth projection for fiscal year 2013-14 and simultaneously lowering the Inflation target for Asia's third-biggest economy. Equities gained on global support and rebounded from three-month lows hit in the previous session owing to appreciation of the rupee and positive global cues that helped domestic markets gain. The Sensex rose 137.27 points to close at 19152.41, while the Nifty advanced 35.55 points higher to settle at 5796.90.

• Indian markets crashed 2% as the Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented not so impressive Union Budget 2013-14 on February 28, 2013. Heavy selling in index heavyweights and banking stocks dragged markets lower as the concerns over rising current account deficit dampened sentiments. The major highlight of FM's speech was that the government raised the surcharge on corporate tax to 10% from 5% for domestic companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs10 crore per year. Several other changes were proposed in the Budget this afternoon. Investors were aloof as they rolled over their positions from the near term February series to march series in the futures and options segment. The Sensex closed at 18861.54, down by 290.87 points and the Nifty fell by 103.85 points to settle at 5693.05 in trade today.

• The key indices ended in the green zone on March 01, 2013, reversing the deep dive in red sea in the previous session. The Indian markets got some nursing on first day of March led by buying in majority of the sectors. Markets extended the gains in late noon trades after the Finance Ministry clarified tax residency certificate The NSE Nifty comfortably surpassed 5700 level while the S&P BSE Sensex was restricted just below 19000 mark. Volatility hovered all around with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone. The Sensex closed at 18918.52, up by 56.98 points and the Nifty rose 26.65 points to settle at 5719.70 in trade today.

Global indices:
All the global markets closed the week on a positive note except CAC40 which fell by 0.17%. Top Gainers: Shanghai Composite was up by 1.96%, Nikkei rose by 1.94%, FTSE100 gained 0.68%, Dow Jones rose 0.64%, Dax100 was up by 0.60% and Hang Seng rose by 0.43%.

Sectoral and stock screening:
Among the 13 sectoral indices, top gainers- BSE CD up by 3.71%, BSE IT rose 2.39%, BSE TECk up by 1.71%. Top losers: BSE Realty fell by 8.60%, BSE PSU slipped 5% and BSE Oil&Gas was down by 4.59%.

Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were Idea Cellular which was up by 7.12%, Sun TV and Titan Industries up by 6.40%. The top three losers of the week were Core Education down by 77.97%, MMTC down by 26.37% and AstraZeneca Pharma was down by 19.14%.

FII/MF activity:
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were the net sellers of the Indian stocks worth a net of Rs83 crore during the week till February 28, 2013; the domestic investors were the net buyers of Indian stocks to the tune of Rs678.2 crore during the week till February 28, 2013.