ShareKhan Newsletter Blog

 Market Commentary 

Weekly markets end with minute gains; Sensex rises 100 pts

The Indian markets closed with marginal gains and remained in a narrow range in a holiday shortened week. The Sensex rose 0.53% and the Nifty was up by 0.55% for the week ended March 29, 2013.

Major Headlines for the week:

• India's forex reserves up $1.96 bn 
• February fiscal deficit at $93.2 bn 
• DoT seeks incentives for telecom equipment manufacturers

Indian indices:

Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for March 28, 2013. This was the thirteenth trading week of 2013 for the Indian markets which closed with marginal gains owing to mixed cues. The Indian markets remained in a consolidation mode this week and traded in a tight range. The key indices too traded in a narrow range as the investors remained on the side-lines in a holiday truncated week. The market sentiments were boosted by data which showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained buyers of Indian stocks during the week. The key benchmark indices gained in two out of three trading sessions.

The BSE Sensex rose 100.17 points or 0.53% to 18,835.77, while NSE Nifty rose 31.2 points or 0.55% to 5,682.55.

Events:
India's fiscal deficit during the April-February period was Rs5.07 trillion, or 97.4% of the budgeted full fiscal year 2012/13 target, government data showed on Thursday.

Weekly market trend from March 25 - March 29, 2013:

• After posting strong start on March 25, 2013, the Indian markets ended in the negative terrain on political uncertainties. S&P BSE Sensex fell for seventh consecutive session after allied parties gave hint that they would remove support from the ruling coalition after the DMK party withdrew last week. The BSE Sensex slipped 0.29%, while NSE Nifty fell 0.31% hitting four month low on political concerns.

• Markets witnessed a dull session in trade on March 26, 2013 and shut shop on a flat note with no major action on the board. Key benchmark indices were sluggish, as the ongoing political uncertainty continued to weigh on sentiments. On Monday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh revived talk of the third front, which political experts say is an indirect indication of early elections. The Sensex closed at 18,704.53, up by 23.11 points and the Nifty rose by 7.75 points to close at 5641.60.

• The stock markets remained shut on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, on account of Holi Festival.

• Indian stocks emerged from a gloomy session of the opening bell on March 28, 2013 and shut shop with smart gains on March F&O expiry day. Markets took a breather as frontline Indian equity benchmarks staged a spirited comeback in the mid-afternoon trade led by strong buying across the board. The Sensex ended at 18835.77, up by 131.24 points while Nifty closed at 5682.55, up by 40.95 points.

• The stock market remained shut on Friday, March 29, 2013, on account of Good Friday. 

Global indices:
All the global markets closed mixed. Top gainers: Hang Seng up by 0.83%, Nasdaq surged by 0.69%, Nikkei rose by 0.48%, Dow Jones up by 0.46% On the other side, top losers were Shanghai Composite down by 3.94%, Dax100 fell by 1.47 and CAC40 slipped by 1.03%.

Sectoral and stock screening:
All the 13 sectors closed mixed. Top gainers- BSE CD was up by 3.95%, BSE PSU was up by 1.63% and BSE Metal rose 1.54%. Top losers BSE Auto fell by 1.20%, followed by BSE CG which was down by 1.16% and BSE Oil&Gas declined by 1.14%.

Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were - BayerCropscience up by 11.00%, Titan Industries up by 5.86% and Gujarat State Petronet up by 5.61%. The top three losers of the week were - MMTC fell by 28.16%, HDIL fell by 23.93% and Reliance Infrastructure fell by 17.93%. 

FII/MF activity
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net buyers of the Indian stocks worth a net of Rs1373.6 crore, while the domestic investors were net sellers of Indian stocks to the tune of Rs195.3 crore during the week till March 26, 2013.