The stock indices ended the week on a dull note, mainly due to the continuing uncertainity on the US-64 front.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex ended the week at 2848.11 points, down 67.55 points over the previous week's close of 2916.66 points. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 9.60 points over the previous close to end the week at 839.50 points.
Good corporate performance in the first half did very little to boost sentiment. Despite good numbers from Satyam Computer, NIIT, Infosys and Zee Telefilms, these stocks witnessed selling pressure during the week.
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There was a good amount of buying support from domestic institutions, mainly Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and State Bank of India (SBI). However, it proved to be of little help in the face of sustained selling pressure from foreign funds.
The Telco scrip was the worst casualty of the week, crashing to a new 6-year low on heavy selling by foreign funds. Other significant losers included SBI and Tisco.
"There is a lack of confidence among players at the moment. Unless the US-64 issue is resolved, fresh buying interest is unlikely to emerge soon," said a leading BSE broker.
On the GDR front, the 60 GDRs, on an average, decline 2.98 per cent during the week while the underlying shares lost 3.60 per cent. GDRs from the hotels sector were the top gainers with a rise of 2.09 per cent followed by aluminium and telecom appreciating 2.02 per cent and 1.11 per cent, respectively.
The top losers were from the pharma and cement sectors descending 8.69 per cent and 5.70 per cent, respectively. In the underlying shares, only the cables sector gained by 2.59 per cent while shares from the steel, cement and pharma were the top losers, declining 13.24 per cent, 10.61 per cent and 6.04 per cent, respectively. During the week, 16 out of the 60 GDRs touched 52-week lows including L&T at $6.68 and Telco at $2.55.
New Delhi: Continued redemption concerns at Unit Trust of India (UTI) triggered all-round nervous selling last week.
The Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) sensitive index, after opening lower at 653.91 points, dropped further to 646.22 points but recovered temporarily to 658.07 points before dropping again to close at 648.33 points - a net fall of 15.41 points.
Reliance Industries Ltd, despite excellent performance, failed to generate buying interest. It declined sharply to Rs 103.55 before settling at Rs 107.50, still down Rs 3.25 over the previous week's close.
Among infotech stocks, Satyam Computer remained volatile through out the week. It opened higher at Rs 609, and surged to Rs 612 on sustained buying. However, selling by profit-takers pulled the price down to Rs 552 before settling at Rs 559, showing a fall of Rs 37.50.
Calcutta: Depressed conditions persisted on the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) last week. Trading was marked by bear pressure, causing share prices to seek new lows.
The CSE's 40-share index, which closed on October 9 at 1681.40 points, eased to end the week at 1614.80 points.
The shares that gained during the week included Castrol at Rs 611.50 (as against Rs 582.60 last week), Hindalco at Rs 540 (Rs 509) and Colgate at Rs 190 (Rs 188).
Telco was marked down to Rs 103.20, Tisco to Rs 77, Bata India to Rs 237, ACC to Rs 943, SBI to Rs 160.30, L&T to Rs 151.50, Tata Tea to Rs 264.60 and Reliance to Rs 107.50.
Chennai: The MSE index reacted sharply on Tuesday to close lower at 3208.06 points. However, it improved to 3241.15 points on Wednesday on renewed buying support before dropping to end the week at 3208.30 points, showing a fall of 159.26 points. Last week, the index stood at 3468.14 points.