Stocks: Markets continued to fall for the second consecutive week due to persistent selling from operators and investors on concerns over global economy and weak results from banks.
"Relentless selling in the stock market is coming from redemption pressures, margin calls, crude slumping to multi- year lows, depreciating rupee against dollar and disappointing earnings," Hem Securities Director Gaurav Jain said.
Weak earnings from public and private sectors banks on account of higher provisioning for bad loans mainly affected the market sentiment, a broker said.
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SBI reported a plunge of over 61.67 per cent in its third-quarter net profits, while number of other banks have also reported weak results on worsening bad loan scenario.
Asian markets also traded weak following US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen's testimony which suggested that the bank is likely to continue on the gradual rate hike path.
The Sensex resumed slightly higher at 24,637.41 and moved up 24,698.85 on initial buying. But, tumbled afterwards to 22,600.39 before concluding at 21-month low of 22,986.12, showing a sharp fall of 1,630.85 points or 6.62 per cent.
The Sensex had last quoted at 22,344.04 on May 9, 2014.
The Sensex has dropped by 1,884.57 points or 7.57 per cent in two weeks.
The 50-share Nifty also tumbled by 508.15 points or 6.79 per cent to close at 21-month low at 6,980.95.
The Nifty had last quoted at 6,858.80 on May 9, 2014.
The Nifty has also lost 582.60 points or 7.70 per cent in two weeks.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares net Rs
2,788.57 crore during the week as per the SEBI's record including the provisional figure of February 12.
Back home, the broad market depicted weakness, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices dropped by 6.96 per cent and 8.39 per cent, respectively. The losses for both of these indices were higher in percentage terms than those for the Sensex.
Among the S&P BSE sector and industry indices, Realty dropped by 11.35 per cent, followed by Capital goods 8.80 pct, Metal 8.21 pct, oil&gas 8.08 pct, IT 8.05 pct, Banking 7.69 pct, Teck 6.43 pct, Power 6.19 pct, FMCG 6.00 pct, Healthcare 5.79 pct, Auto 5.74 and Consumer durables 4.00 pct.
In the 30-share Sensex pack, all 30 stocks fell during the week.
Major losers were, Bhel slumped by 21.27 per cent, the company reported net loss of Rs 1,101.99 crore in third quarter ended Dec 2015, followed by Adaniports 15.39, ONGC 12 pct, Tata Motors 11.45 pct, HDFC 8.72 pct, Dr Reddy Labs 8.45 pct, TCS 8.22 pct, SBIN 7.88 pct, HDFC Bank 7.86 pct, Infosys 7.78 pct, Larsen 7.54, Wipro 7.31 pct, ITC 7.30 pct, Cipla 7.26, ICICI Bank 7.17 pct and Coal India 6.96 pct.
The total turnover at BSE and NSE rose to Rs 14,268.51 crore and Rs 87,430.77 crore respectively, as against the last weekend's level of Rs 13,846.62 crore and Rs 84,978.59 crore.
Forex: The rupee failed to maintain its last week's gain
against the American currency, tumbling sharply by 59 paise to end the week at 68.23 on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in view of sharp fall in equities amid sustained foreign capital outflows.
The market benchmark Sensex crashed by 1,630.85 points or 6.62 per cent this week on concerns over global economy and mounting bad loans amid weak quarterly earnings of state-run banks.
The domestic unit resumed lower at 67.85 per dollar as against the last weekend's level of 67.64 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and fell further to fresh 29- month low of 68.4750 before finishing at 68.23 per dollar, disclosing a loss of 59 paise or 0.87 per cent.
The rupee had gained by 14 paise or 0.21 per cent last weekend.
The domestic currency hovered in a range of 67.7775 and 68.4750 per dollar during the week.
The rupee had slumped to its all-time closing low of 68.80 a dollar on August 28, 2013 after touching the record intra-day low of 68.85 the same day.
In New York, the US dollar firmed against the euro and yen
yesterday after better-than-expected retail sales suggested consumer spending-the biggest driver of the economy-was stronger than expected in January.
The ICE Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.4 per cent at 95.97, but was down 1 per cent over the week.
Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped out net USD 351.39 million in first four days of week as per the SEBI's record.
In the forward market, premium for dollars declined on receipts from exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in July fell to 196-198 paise from preceding weekend's level of 202-204 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in January-2017 eased to 410-412 paise from 411-413 paise.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the USD at 68.4365 and the euro at 77.3606 from last weekend's level of 67.6365 and 75.7326, respectively.
In cross-currency trade, rupee extended its fall against the pound sterling to 99.22 from last weekend's level of 98.27 and also dropped further to 76.97 from 75.74 per euro previously.
It also moved down against the Japanese Yen to 60.67 per 100 yen from 57.91 previously.
Oils and Oilseeds: Edibleoils ends mixed, while
castorseeds eased and linseed ruled stable at the Vashi oils and oilseeds wholesale market during the week under review.
Refined palmolein maintained its bullish trend on the back of heavy demand from retailers.
Groundnut oil declined following subdued demand from stockist and retailers amid ample supply position.
Castorseeds bold and castoroil commercial also fell amid lacklustre trading activity following reduced demand from shippers and soap industries.
Linseed oil held stable in the absence of any major buying activity from paint and allied industries.
Refined palmolein resumed higher at Rs 506 and climbed further to close at Rs 526 compared with last Saturday's close of Rs 505, revealing a gain of Rs 21 per 10 kg.
Groundnut oil opened stable at Rs 950, but later drifted to settle at Rs 930 as against its previous level of Rs 950, showing a loss of Rs 20 per 10 kg.
Turning to non-edible section, castorseeds bold also resumed steady at Rs 3,200 and later fell to finish at Rs 3,150 from last weekend level of Rs 3,200, showing a fall of Rs 50 per 100 kg.
Castoroil commercial also started stable at Rs 670 and later moved down to conclude at Rs 660 from its preceding weekend level of Rs 670, showing a loss of Rs 10 per 10 kg.
Linseed oil prices opened and closed at previous weekend level of Rs 850 per 10 kg.
Bullion: A ferocious wave of speculative buying activity
swept through the domestic bullion hub here with both the precious metals - gold and silver - surging ahead to multi-year highs as global financial markets' turmoil continued to dominate sentiments.
Collapse in oil prices in the midst of uncertainty about the global growth outlook and macroeconomic environment amid highly volatile currency made a perfect blended cocktail for the splendid performance, scripting the biggest weekly gain in more than four years.
Riding high on the back of an unprecedented buying frenzy, gold stormed to reclaim the psychologically important milestone of Rs 29,000 on Friday - its highest level in 20-month.
Although, it succumbed to a modest profit-taking during the mid-week before rebounding.
Robust demand from jewellery traders and retailers ahead of peak festival and wedding season was the main catalyst whereas speculators created huge positions, tracking bullish global trend.
Domestic sentiment turned highly buoyant after the gold jumped to a fresh eight-month high in the overseas markets to break the key resistance USD 1,200 an ounce mark following hectic buying from ETFs and investors against the backdrop of renewed panic selling in global equities.
Marking the longest winning streak in the recent past, the six-week magnificent rally has seen the yellow-metal skyrocketing 16.37 per cent or Rs 4,095 per 10 grams.
The ongoing rally in gold at the local market since the beginning of the year has been predominantly propelled by intensified speculations against the backdrop of jubilant sentiment overseas, a bullion trader said.
Elsewhere, moving in line with the trend, silver also shot-up to reclaim the key Rs 38,000-mark due to frantic speculation as well as industrial demand.
In New York Comex trade, gold for December delivery
softened to close at USD 1,343.20 an ounce from last weekend's level of USD 1,344.40 and silver for September contract eased to USD 19.703 an ounce from USD 19.817 earlier.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) resumed sharply lower at Rs 30,880 per 10 gram as compared to last Friday's closing value of Rs 31,310, but later rebounded smartly to hit a high of Rs 31,285 before finishing at 31,220, revealing a small loss of Rs 90 per 10 gram, or 0.29 per cent.
Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also opened with a gap-down at Rs 31,030 per 10 gram as against previous level of Rs 31,460, but staged a rebound to touch a high of Rs 31,435 before concluding at Rs 31,370, showing a nominal fall of Rs 90 per 10 gram, or 0.29 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) commenced substantially lower at Rs 46,540 per kilo from preceding weekend's close of Rs 47,710 on initial speculative unwinding.
However, it made a solid mid-week recovery attempt and scaled a fresh high of Rs 47,813 before slipping back to end at Rs 47,040, showing a sharp loss of Rs 670 per kilo, or 1.40 per cent.
