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Benchmark indices managed to keep their winning spree intact for the third straight week as record highs on Wednesday helped offset losses in the remaining sessions of the truncated week ended October 7.
Sensex hit a fresh record high of 28,010.39 and Nifty touched a record high of 8,365.55 in intra-day trades on Wednesday, November 5.
Sensex hit a fresh record high of 28,010.39 and Nifty touched a record high of 8,365.55 in intra-day trades on Wednesday, November 5.
Slew of economic reforms recently announced by the government along with decline in global crude oil prices aided the buying interest of the foreign institutional investors.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 4,981 crore for the week, as per provisional stock exchange data.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 2.80 points or 0.01% at 27,868.63 and the 50-share Nifty gained 14.80 points or 0.17% at 8,337.
The broader markets outperformed the Sensex during the week- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended up 1.32% and 2.1%, respectively.
RUPEE
The rupee declined during the week tracking global gains in the dollar on fears that the Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policy earlier than expected. It ended at 61.64 against the US dollar on Friday.
WEEKLY WRAP
Markets opened higher on Monday tracking firm global cues. The Sensex dropped 5 points to end at 27,860, with auto shares leading the decline amid weak October sales.
The stock markets were shut on Tuesday on account of Muharram.
On Wednesday, Sensex ended 56 points up at 27,916 after hitting a fresh record high of 28,010.39 and the 50-share Nifty ended 14 points up at 8,338 after touching a record high of 8,365.55 as foreign institutional investors remained aggressive buyers in equities.
The stock markets were shut on Thursday on account of Gurunanak Jayanti.
On Friday, markets ended marginally lower amid volatility. BSE Sensex ended down 47 points at 27,869.
KEY EVENTS THAT SHAPED THE WEEK
The decontrol of diesel prices and fall in global crude oil prices will help India in containing its CAD and fuel price inflation. It also contributed in slowing of consumer-price index to 6.46% in September.
Factory activity in India expanded at a modest pace in October. The HSBC Manufacturing PMI, compiled by Markit, rose to 51.6 in October from 51.0 in September.
Services, the economy’s biggest sector, contracted as new orders came in at a weaker pace. The HSBC PMI, compiled by Markit, fell to 50 in October from September's 51.6.
STOCKS
Pharmaceutical shares gained on strong September quarter earnings and positive corporate announcements. Dr Reddy's Laboratories was the top Sensex gainer which jumped 7.5% after the US FDA granted final approval to Dr Reddy's Lab and US firm Endo International Plc to make cheaper copies of Roche Holding AG's antiviral Valcyte. Sun Pharma rose 5.5% while Cipla declined 2.5%.
Real estate scrips attracted investor interest as the government relaxed FDI rules in the construction sector by reducing minimum built up area as well as capital requirement and easing exit norms.
DLF surged 8% for the week after the SAT, in an interim relief, allowed real estate giant to redeem its mutual fund investments of Rs 1,806 crore to service its debt.
Banks which are a proxy to the economy witnessed buying interest from investors after global rating agency S&P upgraded India’s credit outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’.
Axis Bank surged 7% for the week. The stock scaled a record high of Rs 472.10 in intraday trade on Friday. The bank on Thursday allotted Senior Notes aggregating to $20,000,000 under the MTN Programme through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch. ICICI Bank gained 4%.
However, HDFC Bank lost 1.5% after the stock was dropped by the MSCI India Index in its semi-annual index review.
Infosys gained nearly 3% for the week after the company announced a strategic partnership with Tableau Software, a global leader in rapid-fire, easy-to-use business analytics software.
However, HDFC Bank lost 1.5% after the stock was dropped by the MSCI India Index in its semi-annual index review.
Infosys gained nearly 3% for the week after the company announced a strategic partnership with Tableau Software, a global leader in rapid-fire, easy-to-use business analytics software.
Shares of most of the frontline automobiles companies declined after reporting drop in vehicle sales during October. Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors lost between 0.4-5.5% for the week.
Hero Motocorp ended down 5.3% on a block sell-off of 8.5 million its shares by private equity company Bain Capital.
Metal and mining stocks edged lower on worries over slowdown in China. China is the world's largest consumer of steel, copper and aluminum. Sesa Sterlite lost 3.75%, Tata Steel dropped 3.5% and Hindalco dipped 4.3%. Shares of Coal India slumped 6.7%. The company will announce Q2 results today.
L&T ended the week with marginal losses after company management indicated that it may miss the annual revenue and margin guidance due to delays in projects although it reported a 7% rise in profit in Q2 results.
GAIL slumped 8.34%. Thes stock was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack.
L&T ended the week with marginal losses after company management indicated that it may miss the annual revenue and margin guidance due to delays in projects although it reported a 7% rise in profit in Q2 results.
GAIL slumped 8.34%. Thes stock was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel lost 2%. Bharti Airtel called off its plans to acquire business and assets of Mumbai based Loop Mobile, for about Rs 700 crore, as the Department of Telecom is yet to clear the deal.
KEY EVENTS TO WATCH OUT NEXT WEEK
The Q2 September 2014 earnings season is set to end next week. Results of prominent companies include Coal India, Cipla, Tata Power, DLF, Hindalco, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, BHEL, ONGC and SBI.
The government will unveil industrial production data for September 2014 on Wednesday and the inflation data based on wholesale price index (WPI) on Friday,
