The stock market witnessed turbulence in the festive week as the benchmark BSE Sensex lost 135.67 points to retreat from the psychological 28,000-mark, while broader Nifty fell by 55.05 points.
The auspicious week of 'Diwali' festival was suffused by monthly expiry as well as last trading day of Samvat 2072 on 'Dhanteras' was frustrated by key market-bearing events.
Though the stocks started the week on a bullish note supported by firm global sentiment, the shocking removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons hit Tata group shares dampening the sentiment. Also, disappointing earnings by key banking financials pushed the stocks into the negative zone.
A value buying by investors, however, helped stocks recover from the 'ouster' shocks. Also the expiry day saw hectic short-covering, while rebound in Q2 results also lifted the market to some extent capping the larger losses during the week.
The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 28,156.59 and hovered between 28,256.65 and 27,665.60 before ending the week at 27,941.51, showing a loss of 135.67 points or 0.48 per cent.
The NSE Nifty also declined 55.05 points or 0.63 per cent to close the week at 8,638.00.
Selling was led by IT, teck, capital goods, power, bankex, auto, metal, and consumer durables counters. The second line shares traded mixed with smallcap companies shares gaining slightly while midcap incurring heavy selling pressure.
Buying was seen in PSUs, oil and gas, healthcare, IPOs, FMCG and realty sectors.
Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 4,296.11
crore during the week, as per the Sebi's record including the provisional figure of October 28.
In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap index lost 194.11 points or 1.43 per cent to settle at 13,408.27. The decline in this index was higher than Sensex's decline in percentage terms. The BSE small-cap index rose 21.82 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 13,454.03, outperforming the Sensex.
Among the sectoral indices, IT dropped 3.45 per cent. It was followed by teck 2.89 per cent, capital goods 1.50 per cent, power 0.93 per cent and bankex 0.89 per cent, auto fell 0.34 per cent, metal by 0.28 per cent and consumer durables 0.08 per cent.
However oil and gas rose by 0.49 per cent, healthcare 0.20 per cent, FMCG 0.08 per cent and realty saw a rise of 0.06 per cent.
In the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 stocks fell, while remaining 10 gained during the week.
Major losers include Axis Bank which was down 7.60 per cent. The bank's net profit declined 83.34 per cent to Rs 319.08 crore on 14.14 per cent growth in total income to Rs 13698.77 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
It was followed by Wipro which was down 7.51 per cent. The company's consolidated net income fell 8 per cent to Rs 2,070 crore on 10 per cent increase in gross revenue to Rs 13,770 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
Besides, there are Asian Paints (7.24 pct), Tata Steel (7.24 pct), Infosys (3.92 pct), L&T (2.16 pct), Gail (1.67 pc), Tata Motors (1.60 pc) and HUL (1.52 pct).
However, Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) was up 8.08 per cent. The company's consolidated net profit fell 60.12 per cent to Rs 308.90 crore on 10.57 per cent decline in total income to Rs 3,660.10 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone jumped 7.47 per cent. The company's consolidated net profit rose 60.97 per cent to Rs 1,090.81 crore on 23.56 per cent increase in total income to Rs 2,416.77 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
It was followed by Maruti 3.99 per cent, HDFC 3.86 per cent, Coal India 3.54 per cent, Bharti Artl 2.99 per cent and ONGC 2.82 per cent.
The total turnover during the week on the BSE fell to Rs 16,579.80 crore from last weekend's level of Rs 18,170.07 crore while NSE rose to Rs 1,10,303.38 crore from Rs 1,06,661.62 crore.
Bullion: Extending its gains for the second-straight week,
gold prices advanced by a modest gain of Rs 5 to close at Rs 29,995 per ten grams -- a mild offtake by jewellers, driven by the ongoing festive season amid supportive global cues.
The yellow metal witnessed some token buying though failed to take-off widely on the Dhanteras which is considered 'auspicious' by Hindus.
On a weekly basis, the yellow-metal gained 0.81 per cent to end at Rs 29,995 in two-weeks.
Silver rebounded from its last week fall to close above the significant Rs 43,000 mark due to speculative buying coupled with higher industrial demand.
In worldwide trade, Gold futures finished higher logging a third consecutive weekly gain and their highest close in nearly four weeks.
Futures had traded lower before and in the immediate wake of data showing the US economy in the third quarter grew at its fastest pace in two years-in line with market expectations.
A strong GDP reading for the world's biggest economy would strengthen the case for a rate increase this year, making non-yielding assets such as gold less attractive while boosting the dollar and the US treasuries.
New York Gold ended the week with a gain of roughly 0.7 per cent - the third weekly gain in a row. It remain down around 3 per cent in the month to date. While, silver too saw a 1.7 per cent weekly gain but remained down by more than 7 per cent so far in October.
In New York Comex trade, gold for delivery in December
rose to finish at USD 1,276.80 an ounce as compared to last weekend's close of USD 1,267.70 and silver for December also climbed to settle at USD 17.796 an ounce from USD 17.493.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) commenced steady at Rs 29,990 per 10 grams, later surged to a high of Rs 30,140 before closing at Rs 29,995, showing a marginal rise of Rs 5 per 10 grams, or 0.01 per cent.
Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also opened stable at Rs 30,140 per 10 grams, later climbed to Rs 30,290 before finishing at Rs 30,145, revealing a mild gain of Rs 5 per 10 grams or 0.01 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened positive at Rs 42,740 per kilo from its previous weekend level of Rs 42,640, later moved to a high of Rs 43,260, before ending at Rs 43,100, registering a rise of Rs 460 per kilo, or 1.07 pct.
Oils and Oilseeds: Refined Palmolein drops further,
Groundnut oil and linseed oil ends stable, while castorseeds bold and castor oil commercial recovers at the Vashi oils and oilseeds wholesale market during the week under review.
Refined palmolein dropped further owing to reduced offtake from retailers.
Groundnut oil witnessed bouts of buying and selling and finally ended the week on stable note.
In the non-edible, Castorseeds bold and castoroil commercial rebounded smartly owing to renewed demand from shippers and soap industries.
Linseedoil maintained its stable position due to lack of demand from paint and allied industries.
In the edible oil segment, groundnutoil opened higher at Rs 960 and later slipped to end at its previous weekend's level of Rs 950 per 10 kg.
Refined palmolein resumed lower at Rs 582 and later drifted further to conclude at Rs 575 from last weekend's level of Rs 583 per 10kg, showing loss of Rs 8 per 10 kg.
Among the non-edibles, castorseeds bold opened higher at Rs 3,725 and rose further to close at Rs 3,775 as against last Saturday's level of Rs 3,700 per 100kg, showing a rise of Rs 75 per 100kg.
Castoroil commercial also opened higher at Rs 775 and rose further to finish at Rs 785 from preceding weekend's level of Rs 770, registered a rise of Rs 15 per 10 kg.
However, linseed oil opened and closed at previous weekend's level of Rs 1,050 per 10kg.
Forex: The rupee staged a modest recovery against the
American currency after three weeks of decline and ended 10 paise higher at 66.79 on fresh dollar selling by exporters and custodian banks.
It largely withstood the initial implied volatility in the face of month-end demand for the greenback before making a smart rebound.
Smooth dollar supply on the back of suspected RBI intervention and heavy unwinding by speculative traders ahead of an extended weekend, too supported the domestic currency, a forex dealer said.
However, massive capital outflows in the face of impending Fed rate hike worries and sluggish domestic equities limited gains.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market (Forex), the domestic currency resumed virtually steady at 66.89 against the US dollar.
But, gradually drifted lower to hit a low of 66.9350 during the mid-week pressure following robust demand for the American unit from importers before regaining strength towards the tail-end trade.
The home unit finally settled at 66.79, showing a good gain of 10 paise, or 0.15 per cent after briefly touching a high of 66.76. It had depreciated by a whopping 28 paise in three-week fall.
In cross-currency trades, rupee recovered against the pound sterling to end at 80.99 from last Friday's closing level of 81.65 and also regained against the Japanese yen to finish at 63.43 from 64.47 per 100 yens.
On the contrary, it fell back after recent sharp move against the euro and finished at 72.94 from last weekend level of 72.86.
In the meantime, country's foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 1 billion to USD 367.14 billion for the week ended October 21.
FIIs turned heavy sellers during the week and offloaded shares worth USD 526.49 million as per Sebi's record.
In the forward market, premium for dollars continued to reel under immense pressure due to persistent receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in March 2017 dropped to 143-145 paise from 152.5-154.5 paise and the far-forward contracts maturing in September also slipped to 318-319 paise from 328-330 paise previously.
RBI fixed the reference rate for the USD at Rs 66.85 and euro at Rs 72.90 against preceding week's level of Rs 66.89 and Rs 72.97, respectively.
In worldwide trade, the US dollar retreated against all major emerging market currencies largely overshadowing stronger-than-expected overall economic growth reading.
Sentiment also turned shaky on the back of a sudden political uncertainty after the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it would probe additional emails related to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server while secretary of state.
The US economy expanded at its fastest rate in two years in the third quarter as an upturn in exports helped drive annualised GDP growth to 2.9 per cent, accelerating from a 1.4 percent pace in the second quarter - its strongest growth rate since the third quarter of 2014.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, ended the week at 98.31 from 98.62 previously.
Crude prices ended below the psychologically key USD 50 - its biggest weekly loss in six weeks on concerns OPEC will not fully carry out a planned crude output cut.
