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 Market Commentary 

First trading Week of 2014 books losses for Indian markets 

Benchmarks recorded two week low on domestic and global chaos in the first trading week of 2014. The Sensex shut shop 1.61% lower while the Nifty fell 1.62% for the week ended January 03, 2014.

Major Headlines for the week:

• April-November fiscal deficit touches Rs5.1 trillion
• India's forex reserves drop by $12.6mn
• HSBC PMI falls in December to 50.7 on slowdown in orders
• Auto December 2013 update: Downtrend intact

Indian indices:

Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for January 04, 2014. Indian stocks settled at over two-week low on weak domestic and global economic data. The market declined in four out of five trading sessions in the week just gone by.

The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small-Cap indices outperformed the Sensex during the week. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 4.58 points or 0.06% to 6,659.18 and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 36.92 points or 0.56% to 6,553.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped below the psychological 21,000 mark and NSE Nifty ended below 6250 level. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 342.25 points to 20,851.33. The 50-unit CNX Nifty slipped 102.65 points to 6,211.15

Major events for the week:

• India's Manufacturing PMI was down at 50.7 points in December from 51.3 in the previous month. This is the second month in a row when manufacturing activities registered a growth after falling since August. A reading above 50 points shows a growth, while the one below is a contraction data showed on Thursday (January 02, 2014).

• The fiscal deficit touched Rs5.1 trillion during April-November, or 93.9% of the full-year target, government data showed on Tuesday (December 31, 2013). Net tax receipts touched Rs3.96 trillion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year to March 2014, while total expenditure was Rs10.21 trillion.

Weekly market trend from December 30, 2013 - January 03, 2014:

• Indian shares fell in an penultimate session of 2013 on Monday (December 30, 2013), as investors booked profit in IT bellwethers in the penultimate trading session of the year, while cement makers closed lower on concerns about subdued construction activity. The BSE Sensex slipped 0.24% and the Nifty was down by 0.36%. Market turned volatile as Financial Stability Report by the RBI flagged concerns over continuing high inflation amid slowdown in growth. The Sensex closed at 21,143.01, down by 50.57 points, while the Nifty fell by 22.70 points to close at 6,291.10

• Indian shares edged higher on Tuesday (December 31, 2013), sending the benchmark BSE index to a 9% yearly gain as sustained foreign investor flows offset widespread concerns about a domestic economy suffering from low growth but high inflation. The BSE Sensex rose 0.13% and NSE Nifty was up by 0.21%. The Indian markets bid adieu to 2013 on a flattish note amid lacklustre participation from institutional investors. However, for the calendar year 2013, both the benchmark indices ended with single digit gains. The Sensex closed at 21170.68, up by 27.67 points, while the Nifty rose 12.90 points to close at 6304.00

• Indian shares ended lower amid thin volumes in a range bound session on Wednesday (January 01, 2014), as software stocks including Tata Consultancy Services fell on profit-taking. The BSE Sensex slipped 0.14% and the Nifty was down by 0.04%. Market witnessed a lacklustre session with flat trades as the norm on the first day of 2014 as volumes remained dull in frontline stocks, a day after world bid good riddance to another year of weak macros. The Sensex closed at 21,140.48, down by 30.20 points, while the Nifty fell by 2.35 points to close at 6,301.65

• Indian shares fell on Thursday (January 02, 2014), posting their biggest single-day percentage fall in nearly 1/2 months as profit-booking hit blue chips for a second consecutive day. The BSE Sensex slipped 1.19% and the Nifty was down by 1.28%. Key benchmark scrapped most of the gains in closing deals for the second consecutive day with the benchmark indices losing over 1% each in the second half of the trading session as profit booking emerged. The Sensex closed at 20,888.33, down by 252.15 points, while the Nifty fell by 80.50 points to close at 6,221.15

• Indian shares fell on Friday (January 03, 2014), as profit-booking hit blue-chips such as Reliance Industries for a third consecutive day, extending the weak start to 2014. The BSE Sensex slipped 0.18% and the Nifty was down by 0.16%. Key benchmark ended flat, amid a volatile trading session on account of shortcovering in late trades after foreign institutional investors continued to remain buyers despite weakness in the markets. The Sensex closed at 20,851.33, down by 37.00 points, while the Nifty fell by 10.00 points to close at 6,211.15

Global indices:
All the global markets closed in the red zone except Nikkei which rose 0.69% in the week gone. The topmost losers are Hang Seng which slipped 1.83%, followed by DAX100 declined 1.61%, Shanghai Composite fell by 0.86%, CAC40 down 0.70% and Nasdaq down by 0.59%.

Sectoral and stock screening:
Among the 13 sectoral indices: Top Gainers- S&P BSE IT up 0.93%, S&P BSE TECk rose 0.86% and S&P BSE HC gained 0.28%. Topmost Losers- S&P BSE CG slipped by 4.65% followed by S&P BSE Power which fell 3.32%, S&P BSE PSU down 2.79%.

Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were - Financial Technologies up by 28.79%, MCX rose 21.17% and Ashok Leyland up by 11.83%. The top three losers of the week were - Adani Enterprises fell by 7.87%, Adani Power slipped by 7.70% and BPCL dipped by 7.10%.

FII/MF activity
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been the net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs1137.50 crore and the domestic investors sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs75.10 crore as on January 02, 2014 respectively.