Sensex, Nifty extend gains for 2nd straight week on FII inflow

Stocks: Markets ended in green for the second consecutive week as the Sensex and Nifty firmed up by another 72 points and 25 points on sustained foreign capital inflows coupled with higher overseas advices.
The ongoing bull run has come mostly on hopes of a likely rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India after the government retained its deficit target for the next fiscal at 3.5 per cent of GDP in Budget 2016-17, a broker said.
Shares of Auto, Realty, Healthcare, Refinery and Metal sectors strengthened on persistent buying, while shares of IT, Banking and Tech fell on selling pressure.

The Sensex resumed higher at 24,655.19 and firmed up further to 5-week high at 24,820.76 on initial buying but declined afterwards to 24,451.60 on selling pressure before ending the week at 24,717.99, showing a gain of 71.51 points or 0.29 per cent.
It gained 1,563.69 or 6.75 pct in two weeks.
The 50-share Nifty also rose by 24.85 points or 0.33 pct to cross 7,500-mark after five weeks to end at 7,510.20. It has also gained by 480.45 points or 6.83 pct.

European markets ended higher after central bank unveiled fresh stimulus measures. "The stimulus package provided by the ECB is much better than expected and this will ease the risk of deflation in Europe. Domestic equities are well placed among EMs with the return of FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investor)," Geojit BNP Paribas Head-Fundamental Research Vinod Nair said.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares net Rs
3,227.81 crore during the week as per the SEBI's record, including the provisional figure of March 11.
Stock markets were closed on March 7 (Monday) for "Mahashivratri" holiday.
The BSE mid-cap index gained by 45.86 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 10,270.70. While, the BSE small-cap index fell 7.76 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 10,277.99.
Among the S&P, BSE sector and industry indices, Auto rose by 1.55 per cent, followed by Realty 1.06 per cent, Healthcare 1.06 per cent, Oil&gas 0.94 per cent, FMCG 0.77 per cent and Metal 0.56 per cent.

However, IT fell by 1.37 per cent, Banking 1.36 per cent, Teck 1.03 per cent, Power 0.98 per cent, Consumer Durable 0.41 and Capital Goods 0.15 per cent.
In the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 stocks rose and the remaining 11 declined during the week.
Major gainers were, Lupin gained by 4.35 per cent, Asian Paints 3.35 per cent, Tata Motors 3.04 per cent, HDFC 2.68 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.65 per cent, Adaniport 2.20 per cent, Tata Steel 2.12 per cent, Maruti 2.07 per cent, ONGC 2.04 per cent, ITC 1.61 per cent, Sunpharma 1.23 per cent and Bajaj Auto 1.18 per cent.

SBI, on the other hand, fell by 4.27 per cent, followed by BHEL 3.36 per cent, ICICI Bank 3.04 per cent, Infosys 2.40 per cent, Coal India 1.89 per cent and Dr Reddy 0.98 per cent.
Forex: Extending gains against the American currency for
the second consecutive week, the rupee ended at 67.05 per dollar, higher by three paise on persistent selling of the greenback by banks and exporters in view of sustained foreign capital inflows into equities.
The rupee resumed lower at 67.21 as against the last weekend's level of 67.08 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and dropped further to 67.51 on initial dollar demand from banks and importers.

However, it recovered afterwards to 66.94 on fag-end selling of dollars before ending the week at 67.05, showing a gain of three paise or 0.04 per cent.
It has gained by 157 paise or 2.24 per cent in two weeks.
The domestic currency hovered in a range of 66.94 and 67.51 per dollar during the week.
Overseas, the euro hovered near a 3-week high during the week, sitting on big gains after the European Central Bank suggested it was done with cutting interest rates for now.
The ECB on Thursday cut its main refinancing rate to zero from 0.05 per cent and increased monthly asset buys to 80 billion euros from 60 billion euros.

Persistent foreign capital inflows into domestic equity market mainly boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a Forex dealer said.
In New York Comex trade, gold for delivery in December
declined to close at USD 1,224.30 an ounce from last weekend's level of USD 1,304.50 and silver for December moved down to USD 17.382 an ounce from USD 18.371 earlier.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) resumed lower at Rs 30,450 per 10 grams as compared to last Friday's closing value of Rs 30,660 and moved in a range of Rs 30,325 and Rs 31,435 before closing at Rs 30,365, revealing a loss of Rs 295 per 10 grams, or 0.96 per cent.

Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also commenced lower at Rs 30,600 per 10 grams from previous closing level of Rs 30,810, and hovered in a range of Rs 30,475 and Rs 31,585 before finishing at Rs 30,515 showing a loss of Rs 295 per 10 grams, or 0.96 per cent.
Oils and Oilseeds: Edible oil and non-edible oils
prices rebounds, while linseeds oil continued to maintain a stable trend at the Vashi oils and oilseeds wholesale market during the week under review.
Groundnut oil recovered smartly owing to renewed demand from stockist and retailers amidst restricted supplies from producing belts.

Refined palmolein rebounded following fresh offtake from retailers.
In the non-edible, Castorseeds bold and castoroil commercial recouped due to good demand from shipper and soap industries.
Linseedoil continued its stable position due to lack of demand from paint and allied industries.
In the edible oil segment, groundnut oil opened higher and gained further to settle at Rs 1,000 from its previous weekend's level of Rs 925, showing a rise of Rs 75 per 10kg
Refined palmolein resumed stable at Rs 560 and later rose further to touch a high of Rs 578 before concluding at Rs 575 from its last weekend's level of Rs 560 per 10 kg, showing gain of Rs 15 per 10 kg.

Among the non-edibles, castorseeds bold opened lower at Rs 3,740 and moved in a range of Rs 3,780 and Rs 3,700 before ending at Rs 3,850 as against last Friday's level of Rs 3,775 per 100 kg, showing a rise of Rs 75 per 100kg.
Castor oil commercial also resumed lower at Rs 778 and moved in a range of Rs 786 and Rs 770 before finishing at Rs 800 from last Friday's level of Rs 781, registered a gain of Rs 19 per 10 kg.
Forex: The rupee suffered a major setback and plunged
sharply to hit its multi-month lows after Donald Trump's stunning presidential win reinforced "capital outflows" fears and higher expectations for a Fed rate hike amid global market uncertainty.
Breaching the psychologically significant 67-barrier, the domestic currency ended at 67.25 to mark a steep weekly loss of 55 paise or 0.82 per cent.
This is the weakest closing since July 26 when it had closed at 67.27.
Extremely bullish overseas dollar sentiment backed by growing anticipation of an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike and subsequent capital outflows mainly hit hard emerging market currencies particularly Asia.
Frantic demand from importers and corporates also weighed on trade.
A massive sell-off in domestic equities which tumbled to multi-month lows on the back of roller-coaster global markets further added to the woes of local unit.
The Indian government's surprise decision to abolish high-value bank notes -- Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes -- this week also had some impact on the forex trade.
The US dollar staged a magnificent rebound in optimism driven by the sharp jump in global bond yields along with expectations that Trump's fiscal stimulus would unleash higher inflation and force the Fed to tighten interest rates more aggressively.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit resumed modestly weak at 66.74 from last Friday's closing value of 66.70 and traded in narrow-range ahead of US poll as well as shaky greenback.
Overcoming the initial lacklustre momentum, the local unit reversed the trend to touch a fresh two-month high of 66.3350 on Thursday following heavy dollar unwinding by speculative traders also supported by rallying local stocks.
However, the rally was short-lived with the currency taking a sudden reversal to end at three-month low of 67.25, showing a sharp fall of 55 paise, or 0.82 per cent.
It had appreciated 19 paise in last two-straight week rally.