After the previous week's hammering, equity markets bounced back during the week ended April 1, 2005. While the 30-stock BSE Sensex gained 2.52 per cent, Nifty rose by 2.59 per cent during the week.
The week opened on a positive note on Monday but lost heavily on Tuesday--down a massive 143 points. The sentiments though turned optimistic towards the end of the week and the Sensex zoomed more than 100 points each on Thursday and Friday.
The broader based S&P CNX 500 index climbed 3.24 per cent, while CNX Mid Cap 200 gained an impressive 5.35 per cent, indicating a fresh interest in the mid-cap stocks during the week.
Among the sectoral indices, the surge in the BSE IT Index was most impressive, as it was better off by 4.69 per cent. The BSE Healthcare Index remained flat during the week. The BSE Bankex climbed 3.39 per cent, while the BSE PSU Index gained 3.02 per cent. The BSE FMCG Index gained 1.21 per cent, while the BSE Metal Index closed up 2 per cent.
Pharma majors Ranbaxy Laboratories and Dr Reddy's Laboratories were among the prominent losers during the week--they shed around 5.7 and 3.7 per cent, respectively. Among the Sensex heavyweights, Bajaj Auto firmed up the most during the week gaining 7 per cent followed by a 5.7 per cent gain of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. Among the Nifty constituents, HCL Technologies zoomed 9.2 per cent, while VSNL surged close to 8 per cent.
FIIs ended the eight-week-long rally and turned into net sellers withdrawing a sum of Rs 557.5 crore from the Indian equity markets. The mutual funds on the other hand were net buyers to the tune of Rs 278.19 crore during the week.
The container freight station operator Gateway Distriparks made its debut on Thursday at Rs 90, at a premium of 25 per cent to its issue price of Rs 72 on the BSE. The average turnover has declined quite considerably in the past two weeks from the levels of 8,000-plus to 6,500 level.
Outlook
After a volatile week, the equity markets are expected to trade cautiously during the next week. Expectations over quarterly results are likely to drive the markets further. The major indices could show positive bias on hopes of strong results for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. The trend in the FII inflows would also govern the direction of the stock markets.
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