On Monday, despite a strong opening, the Nifty closed flat but the Sensex dipped slightly. Profit booking in ICICI Bank, RIL, ITC and HDFC Bank dragged the Sensex. But mid- and small-caps fared well.
Tuesday was volatile and disheartening for the bulls. The Sensex hit a low, bounced back but closed in the red due to selling pressure later in the day.
The fall continued on Wednesday and Thursday. Markets opened in red on Wednesday after reports stated that the Finance Ministry is contemplating a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT). Selling pressure in the Asian and European markets did not help. The bulls managed to gain some ground but the market ended up closing in the red. As the price of crude oil rose, refinery stocks fell.
On Thursday, the market witnessed alternate bouts of buying and selling. Weak cues from the international markets coupled with selling in L&T, ONGC and REL dragged the Sensex. But late buying in banking and auto stocks lifted the key indices from their low but still closed in the red. The BSE Bankex and BSE Auto indices gained while BSE Realty was the top loser followed by BSE Capital Goods BSE Power.
Friday saw the bulls emerge and REL and L&T led the gains. Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 22 advanced.
On Monday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell to a three-month low. Goldman Sachs advised investors to sell Citigroup which slipped to its lowest level in four years. Goldman Sachs also lowered its share-price estimate on Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and E*Trade. As a result, all three slumped. Home improvement retailer Lowe's cut its earnings forecast for the second time in two months.
A look at the data below indicates that FII inflows have slowed considerably and also turned negative. Nevertheless, they continue to storm the primary market, as can be seen from the strong response to IPOs like Mundra Port, Religare and Edelweiss.
Talking of IPOs, Religare Enterprise, a financial services provider led by promoters of Ranbaxy Laboratories, listed on November 21. The stock sky rocketed over 200% hitting an intra-day high of Rs 601 and finally closed at Rs 522, up 182%.
The BSE sectoral indices fell during the entire week only to rise on Friday. When comparing last week's Sensex close with this week's, 23 stocks posted negative gains. Bajaj and ACC were the top gainers.
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