Share prices on major bourses took a tumble last week following the turmoil at the Hong Kong bourse. The BSE Sensex closed at 3,957.46, down by 157 points over the previous week's close of 4,106.26.
"Although there was some selective selling by foreign institutional Investors, operators aggravated the situation by unwinding their long positions. This apart, there was also some amount of short selling which pushed the indices down further. With a string of holidays on the BSE next week, few players were willing to carry forward their positions," explained a BSE broker.
This week also saw the announcement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) busy season policy The policy which was very much in line with general expectations failed to boost trading sentiment. "The credit policy announced by the RBI is positive one but the real impact of it will be known only when economic activity picks up and corporate performance improves," a fund manager with a leading FII told Business Standard.
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Among the shares which fell down sharply at the bourse over its previous week were: ITC down by Rs 18 to close at Rs 587, L & T down by Rs 17 to close at Rs 218, MTNL by Rs 12 at Rs 261.
Among the shares that went up sharply was Parke Davis up by Rs 35 to close at Rs 263, Proctor & Gambler up by Rs 26 to close at Rs 26 to close at Rs 826
Market sources said buying by FIIs was selective last week, limited to pharma and software stocks, while domestic financial institutions brought stocks, mostly PSU ones, at lower levels. Share prices also fell at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Sensex at the NSE closed on Friday at 1,136.65, which was down over its previous week close of 1,177.80.
"The Sensex should hover around the 3,850-mark next week as the BSE will be closed for most part of the week. This will have a sharp impact on the arbitrage business.
The corporate results expected next week will also have a crucial role to play," he added.
Alok Sethi, director, NatWest Securities, said: "At best, the market should remain listless in the coming week. Apart from corporate results, the latest political developments will effectively hinder any upward movement of the indices. Currently, the Indian markets may look stronger in comparison to other S E Asian markets, but there is no immediate reason for the market to move up."
New Delhi: Shares suffered another setback to close with widespread losses on the stock market late last week as foreign institutional investors continued their selling pressure on the bourses mostly triggered by reports of tumble in stocks on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Stock brokers said the sentiment was extremely depressed and even purchases by domestic funds failed to lift up falling stock prices.
Bear operators also turned aggressive and indulged in hammering in speculative counters for the major part of the session which brought nearly panic on the market, they said. Reflecting the depressed like conditions, the DSE sensitive index fell sharply by 14.63 points to close at 832.44 points on Saturday alone
Foreign funds were major sellers in most of the multinationals and some high priced Indian company shares.
Reliance shares remained under selling pressure during the session and suffered a sharp setback to close Rs 6 down at Rs 396.50. SBI shares also plunged Rs 2.75 at Rs 273.25 due to all-round selling by profit takers and some overseas investors.
Tata Steel shares lost Rs 4.20 at Rs 169.80, while L& T sharesfell by Rs 7.80 at Rs 212.45. ACC shares fell Rs 9.50 at Rs 1216.50 owing to selling by bear operators coupled with slackness in buying support. ITC suffered a steep fall of Rs 36.80 to close the day at Rs 588.20 largely on all round selling by foreign players and bear hammering. HindLever scrips tumbled from Rs 1405 to close at Rs 1383 but Nestle India gained Rs 3 at Rs 272 on selective buying.
BSES, IPCL, ICICI, ITC Hotels, Arvind Mills, Asian Hotels, MTNL, Whirlpool of India, and Essar Steels also declined on selling.