Markets gain 1% for the week

FMCG, Auto, Banks lead gains

Markets gained this week amidst volatility as investors took positions ahead of the winter session of the parliament. The BSE benchmark index gained 1.08% and the Nifty rose 0.94% for the week. However, the broader markets were in the red with both the smallcap and the midacp indices losing 0.7% and 0.9% respectively.

Even though the no business could the transacted on the first two days in both the houses of the parliament, the continued interest for the Indian equities among the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) proved to be a sentiment booster.

Also, a stalled divestment programme that is crucial to rein in a ballooning fiscal deficit kickstarted by selling 4% of state-run Hindustan Copper Ltd in a share auction on Friday raising Rs 6.1 billion. However, for the week the stock lost nearly 20%.

On the global front, US lawmakers expressed confidence on Sunday that they could reach a deal to avert the $600 billion "fiscal cliff", which threatened to send the giant economy back into recession. This buffered the negative impact of a credit rating agency stripping France of its top-notch rating, reminding investors of the continuing risks from the euro zone debt crisis.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average was the top gainer climbing to a 6-1/2-month closing high on Thursday, boosted by gains in automakers and electronics companies on expectations that a sharply weaker yen will boost their earnings.

Back home, among the sectors, FMCG, Auto, Banks and IT saw maximum investor interest which gained between 1-2.5%. Health Care and Consumer Durables too closed in the green with gains around 0.4-0.2%.

On the other hand, PSU, Power, Realty and Oil & Gas indices lost 1% each for the week.

Among the Sensex stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra which gained nearly 7% was the top gainer for the week. ITC, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power were the other notable gainers, up 3-4%.

On the losing side were NTPC, BHEL, GAIL, ONGC, Tata Motors and Tata Steel which shed 1.5-4%.

Among other stocks, the major gainers were aviation scrips like Jet Airways and Spicejet took off with gains between 8-15%. Karnataka Bank, Manappuram Finance, SKS Microfinance, Tribhovandas and UB Holding were some other scrips which added 5-9%.

Among other stocks the losers included pharma names like Ranbaxy, Shasun Pharma and Dishman Pharma which lost 3% each.