The stock market witnessed hectic activity as stock indices reported wide fluctuations. The market opened on a strong note in the initial trading sessions. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share Index touched a 52-week high on Tuesday at 4465.37 points. But, on Wednesday, the trend reversed with the bull rally finally coming to an end and the market sentiment going down sharply.
Brokers also attributed the downtrend in the market to the technical correction. 'As the stock market was overheated during the last few trading sessions due to hectic FII purchases, a reaction was inevitable,' a technical analyst told Business Standard. The BSE Sensitive Index closed at 4397.54 points - up by about 50 points over its previous week's closing of 4347.32 points. The NSE-50 moved up from 1232 to 1256 points - up from the previous week's closing by about 14 points.
Brokers say there was no aggressive buying by FIIs and domestic institutions were also found to be selling in select counters. Pharmaceutical scrips were among the major gainers of the week attracting heavy buying by FIIs. Among the major gainers in the pharma sector were Cipla at Rs 898 - up by Rs 108 over the previous week's close of Rs 790 and Ranbaxy at Rs 776, up by Rs 84 over the previous week's close of Rs 692.
Hectic activity was seen in the SBI counter on the last day of the settlement period at the BSE with the share price moving up sharply from Rs 327 to Rs 350 on rumours that RBI would grant permission to FIIs to increase their stake in the scrip from 20 to 22 per cent.
Brokers said that there has been a drastic slowdown in the inflow of FII funds following the latest developments on the political front. 'Most of the activity that was witnessed in the past week was more of speculative nature rather than investment based,' said a source at the broking arm of a leading domestic institution.
NEW DELHI: Domestic players took markets to new heights, but the initial gains could not be completely neutralised at the Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) during the week ended August 8.
The DSE Index (base 1983) rose by 23.39 points to settle at 935.37 as against the last week's close of 911.98 points. Market analysts said the withdrawal of the IRA bill sent wrong signals to FIIs, who started making selective purchases after the volte-face by the government.
However, before the withdrawal of the IRA bill, the market was buoyed by high spirits. Reports of half-yearly and first quarterly good performance by HLL and Larsen & Toubro further fuelled the sentiment.
On the opening day, the Index gained 25.15 points to close at 937.13 as
against the previous closing of 911.98 points. L&T led the rally and investors were seen picking up stocks even at the prevailing higher levels on hopes that the rising trend would continue for a few more sessions.
The surge continued on Tuesday as well with the Index rising by a massive 20.42 points to close at 957.55. The trend was reversed the next day as FIIs and domestic players kept away from buying scrips after news of withdrawal of the IRA bill reached the market.
The Index dropped another 7.93 points to close at 935.37 on the last day of the week. However, highly traded shares, including ITC and Reliance Industries ended with moderate gains.
CALCUTTA: The Calcutta Stock Exchange finished the week on a quiet note, though the market had earlier witnessed a strong bullish fervour which pushed share values to new highs. The turnover was at a high level reflecting the broad-based buying support witnessed till the midweek.
The CSE's 50-scrip Index wound up the week at 123.74 points though it had earlier crossed the 130-points level in the wake of sustained advance in share values on active bull support.
But the picture changed abruptly due to nervous unloading by bulls coupled with some bear pressure. This followed the news that the government was forced to withdraw an important bill in the Rajya Sabha.
