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 Market Commentary 

Mayhem for 4th week; Rupee presses panic key 

The Indian markets wrapped up the week ended August 16, 2013, in the red zone for fourth straight week owing to Rupee volatility and growth concerns. The Sensex ended 1.02% lower, while the Nifty fell 1.03% in the week. 

Major Headlines for the week:

• June 2013 IIP came in at -2.2% 
• Gold regains Rs30,000 mark after 5 months
• Car sales down 7.4% in July month
• July trade deficit at $12.27 bn
• July 2013 CPI inflation grows at 9.6% 
• July WPI Inflation at 5.79%; at 4-mth High 
  

Indian indices:

Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for August 16, 2013. The Indian stock indices continued with its downtrend in the 33rd trading week of 2013. Key benchmark indices slumped on Friday, 16 August 2013, wiping out all the gains posted in the first three trading sessions of a truncated week. The S&P BSE Sensex hit its lowest closing level in over seven weeks. The 50-unit CNX Nifty hit its lowest level in more than 18 weeks. The market fell in one out of four trading sessions. Back home, weak rupee also played spoilsport after hitting record low of 62.01 on Friday, August 16, 2013.

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) curbs on forex outflows announced on Wednesday, August 14, 2013, to stem rupee's slide rattled investor sentiment. Fears that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its monthly bond buys in September 2013 also dampened sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 191.16 points to 18,598.18. Nifty fell 57.80 points to 5,507.85.

Major events of the week:
Car sales in India fell an annual 7.4% in July, an industry body said on Monday (August 12, 2013), the ninth straight month of fall, as rising fuel costs and high interest rates continued to keep demand subdued.

Exports rose 11.64% in July to $25.83 billion from the previous month but the trade deficit was almost unchanged at $12.27 billion, keeping pressure on the current account deficit.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for June 2013 came in at -2.2% as compared with -1.6% for May 2013.

All India general CPI (Combined) for July 2013 stands at 9.6% as compared to 9.3% for the previous month of June 2013.

India's headline annual inflation rate rose to a five-month high of 5.79 percent in July as oil import costs and food prices were pushed up by a weaker rupee, with the government and RBI still struggling to stabilise the currency.

Rupee touched a lifetime low of 62.01 against the dollar on Friday.

India's yellow metal Gold once again touched the physiological Rs30,000 (per 10 grams) mark on Friday, for the first time since prices started falling in April due to the global weakness.

Weekly market trend from August 12 - August 16, 2013: 

• On Monday (August 12, 2013); the Indian stock indices end near day's high led by buying in majority of the sectors. Both the exchanges - Sensex and Nifty closed 0.84% higher. Key benchmark indices gained for second straight-session, amid renewed buying interest in majority of the sectors. The S&P BSE Sensex touched 19000 while NSE Nifty closed above 5600 mark. The Sensex shut shop at 18946.98, up by 157.64 points and the Nifty rose 46.75 points to close at 5612.40.

• Benchmark indices rose 1.5% on Tuesday (August 13, 2013); to mark its highest close in 1 month as IT shares and private banks rallied with investors shifting to defensive stocks in an uncertain economic environment. Later, the Benchmark indices extended gains in the late-morning session after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chief Duvvuri Subbarao said on Tuesday that "perhaps" there was a need to reduce the reserves that banks have to set aside via the cash reserve or the statutory liquidity ratios. The S&P BSE Sensex wrapped trade at 19229.84, up by 282.86 points while the NSE Nifty rose 86.90 points to settle at 5699.30.

• Benchmark indices rose 1% on Wednesday (August 14, 2013); for a 4th straight session, led by Tata Group companies after Tata Motors surged on unit Jaguar Land Rover's July sales, while Tata Steel jumped as its quarterly profit nearly doubled. Markets rose for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, amid buying in Blue chips like Tata Motors, ONGC, TCS, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel added gains. On the macro front, country's wholesale price index inflation spiked for the month of July raising uncertainty over policy action by the central bank to support growth. The S&P BSE Sensex wrapped trade at 19367.59, up by 137.75 points while the NSE Nifty rose 43.00 points to settle at 5742.30

• Indian stock markets remained closed on Thursday (August 15, 2013), on account of Independence Day.

• On Friday (August 16, 2013), the Indian shares fell 4%, its biggest single-day drop in almost 4 years, as blue chips were hit across the board on fears U.S. stimulus tapering would hit foreign selling. The BSE Sensex fell 3.97% and the Nifty was down by 4.08%. The Bombay Stocks Exchange S&P BSE Sensex plunged by over 750 points, or 4%, its biggest fall in four years, to end at 18,598 on fear that the roll-back of US stimulus could spark selling pressure by the overseas investors in the equity space. It was the Sensex's biggest single-day fall since July 2009. The Sensex shed 769.41 points to close at 18598.18 while Nifty slipped 234.45 points to end at 5507.85.

Global indices
All the global markets closed the week on a mixed note. Top gainers: Hang Seng up 3.26%, Shanghai Composite rose 0.79% and DAX 100 rose 0.46%. Top Losers: Dow Jones slipped 2.03%, FTSE100 fell 1.52% and Nasdaq fell 1.48%.

Sectoral and stock screening
Among the 13 sectoral indices, nine sectors closed in the red zone while remaining four sectors closed in the green zone. Top Gainers- BSE Auto up by 3.96%, BSE Healthcare rose by 1.99%, BSE Metal surged by 1.43%. Top Losers: BSE CD slipped 4.91%, BSE Bankex fell 3.60% and BSE CG declined 3.02%.

Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were - Ranbaxy Labs surged by 36.40, Essar Oil 33.51% and Hindustan Copper gained by 26.33%. The top three losers of the week were - MCX slipped by 34.02%, Financial Technologies dipped by 23.72% and Syndicate Bank fell by 14.75%. 

FII activity 
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been the net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs491.90 crore on August 16, 2013.