Sensex sixth best globally

STOCK MARKETS IN FIRST-HALF

China's Shanghai Composite has been the best performing index and Turkey's ISE National-100 the worst in the first half of FY07. BSE Sensex, despite the sharp correction in May-June, stood at the sixth spot among 40 major indices worldwide.

China's Shanghai Composite leads the world indices with a staggering gain of 35 per cent while Turkey's ISE National-100 (36924.86) was down over 13 per cent.

The roller-coaster ride notwithstanding, Sensex has ended the first-half of 2006-07 on a high note. It is still 158 points lower than the peak of 12612.38 reached on May 10 but has gained 1,174 points or 10.4 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2007.

China's Shanghai Composite is followed by the Philippines' PSE Composite(16.4 per cent), Indonesia's Jakarta Composite (16 per cent), Mexico's IPC (13.8 per cent), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (11 per cent) and Sensex (10.4 per cent). Incidentally, four of the top six best performing world indices are from the emerging Asian markets.

The Sensex's 10.4 per cent (1,174 points) gain is remarkable in the context of 41 per cent correction in May-June. Most of the markets, except for China and to some extent the Philippines, witnessed sharp fall in May-June. The Sensex saw the steepest decline and followed it up with a dramatic recovery.

None of the other markets which bore the brunt of May meltdown has been able to record such a smart recovery. The losers pack was led by Turkey's ISE National-100 (36924.86), down over 13 per cent.

It was followed by Argentina's MerVal (down 9 per cent), Pakistan's Karachi 100 ( - 8.3 per cent), Austria's ATX (- 6.5 per cent), Thailand's SET (- 6.4 per cent) and Norway's OSE All Share ( - 6.4 per cent).

Among the developed markets, the Dow has gained 5 per cent and the S&P 500 was up 3.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq has slipped 3.3 per cent and the Nikkei has dropped 5.5 per cent. The European FTSE 100 finished on a flat note.

The recovery in India is largely driven by strong corporate results, a growing economy and steady foreign fund inflows, which picked up in the second quarter. The FIIs have so far pumped in Rs 4,860.20 crore this financial year into Indian markets.