Markets at a glance

Despite gains on Friday, key indices ended the week with losses. Weakness in global markets on fears of a hike in US markets also rubbed off on Indian equities. FIIs were net sellers to the tune of RS 1427 crore in October.

The depreciation in rupee was also one of the reasons for the fall. However, Government's decision to increase FDI ceiling in the telecom sector to 74 per cent from 49 per cent improved sentiments on Friday. For the week, the Sensex posted a loss of 132.78 points at 8068.95, while the broader Nifty shed 40.65 points to close at 2443.75.

Even though key indices ended the week in the red, advances on Friday cushioned the fall to an extent. The market breadth was biased towards declines. Among the 30 Sensex stocks, 17 declined.

Housing finance major HDFC was the biggest drag on the index. The stock declined 6.04 per cent to end the week at Rs 924.85, thus shaving off 21.56 points from the index. Ranbaxy, Infosys and L&T were the other major losers. The losses in these counters took away 56.76 points from the index. On the positive side, IT scrip Satyam (up 4.18 per cent at Rs 594.20) contributed the maximum points (11.19 points) to the index.

Performance of sectoral indices were in line with general market trends. All key indices ended the week with losses. BSE Health Care index and BSE Consumer Durables index were the worst hit.

While declines in key stocks like Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy's Labs dragged down the former, top consumer durable stock such as Titan Industries, Videocon International and Blue Star declined, leading to losses in the latter. On the other hand, BSE Auto index, BSE IT Index and BSE Oil & Gas index suffered the least damage last week.

At the end of a volatile week of training, key US index returns were mixed. While the Dow Jones Industrials fell 65.88 points to 10215.22, the Nasdaq jumped 14.10 points to 2082.21.

While Caterpillar Inc.'s lackluster results dragged the Dow Jones industrials, strong earnings from Google Inc. cheered sentiments. Investors continued to fret about inflation, rising interest rates and high energy prices on the back of worrying economic data, which overshadowed mostly positive quarterly results from leading companies.

What to expect this week
Volatility may remain high this week as the trend of FII flows will undoubtedly have a major impact on movement of the indices. They have been net sellers last week.

Also RBI's upcoming Credit Policy on Tuesday and expiry of October 2005 derivatives contracts on Thursday may make the markets jittery. A number of key Q2 results are scheduled this week, including Tata Motors, ONGC, Grasim, Tata Steel, M&M, Reliance Industries, SBI, BHEL, ITC and HPCL.

Stock of the week
 

Zee Telefilms
Last week's close (Rs)	144.53
Prev. week's close (Rs)	173.03
Week's high (Rs)	176.00
Week's low (Rs)	142.50
Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr)	20.96
Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr)	48.02
Futures close	NT
Number of up/down move	0/5

Last week's close (Rs) 144.53 Prev. week's close (Rs) 173.03 Week's high (Rs) 176.00 Week's low (Rs) 142.50 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 20.96 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 48.02 Futures close NT Number of up/down move 0/5

The media major tanked after reporting disappointing quarterly numbers. The stock was the biggest loser among Nifty stocks last week and crashed 16.47 per cent.

Zee posted a 38.47 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 42.52 crore for September quarter. However, total income increased 10 per cent to Rs 350.2 crore in Q2FY06.