Equity markets were on fire in the week ended September 30, 2005. Records tumbled one after the other as the 30-stock BSE Sensex gained 5.01 per cent over the week to close at 8,634.48 mark. The Nifty followed with a rise of 4.99 per cent. Among the broader indices, the S&P CNX 500 closed up 4.57 per cent, while CNX Midcap gained 3.98 per cent over the week. However, the ride was bumpy. Extreme volatility troubled investors. News of a crackdown on suspicious movements in the prices of penny stocks hurt the sentiments to some extent.
When the markets opened on Monday, there was no trace of negativism. Broad-based buying trigged a rally. Easing international crude oil prices proved handy as the 30-scrip BSE Sensex jumped over 250 points to end the day at 8,478.91 mark. The Nifty too had a 3.21 per cent run. The index closed at 2,557.35 mark. Technology, cement, auto, steel, pharma and FMCG sectors were highly active. Small- and mid-cap stocks too saw significant buying interest. The CNX Midcap index gained 3.08 per cent on Monday.
Chaos prevailed in the equity markets on Tuesday. Frequent bouts of selling and buying troubled traders. Over the day, the Sensex gained 47 points to close at 8,525.52 mark. Earlier in the day, the Sensex zoomed to 8,585.76 points. But soon, profit booking pulled the index down. The Nifty closed up 17.50 points at 2,574.85 mark. Buying interest was seen across sectors including banking, auto, pharma and PSU stocks. Technology, FMCG and metal stocks were under pressure.
After a choppy Tuesday, there was some order in the Indian equity markets on Wednesday. Markets opened weak but gained momentum on back of a late buying interest towards the end of the day. At close, the 30-stock BSE Sensex was up 80.51 points at 8,606.03. The Nifty too gained 23.20 points to end the day at 2,598.05 mark. Banking stocks rose substantially on hopes of higher credit off-take. PSU stocks too surged.
It was the same old story on Thursday--markets saw choppy sessions and closed with some gains. The 30-stock BSE Sensex touched a historic high of 8,700 points. However, it pared some gains before closing 44.14 points up at 8,650.17 mark. The Nifty closed up 13.15 points at 2,611.20 points. The rally was led by robust FII inflows and sharp gains in cement, auto ancillaries, engineering, oil PSUs, steel and pharma stocks. Mid- and small-cap stocks, though, were under pressure. The CNX Midcap index lost 0.36 per cent.
Equity markets ended their four-day-long rally as investors resorted to profit booking on Friday. Volatility continued in the markets as the 30-stock BSE Sensex closed 15.69 points down at 8,634.48 points. The Nifty too saw a similar trend and shed 9.80 points to end the day at 2,601.40 mark. Small and mid-cap stocks too suffered on Friday. FMCG stocks, which were on fire for quite some time now, were under pressure. Select IT and banking stocks closed up.
Among the Sensex constituents, only three stocks including Grasim Industries (-1.32 per cent), ITC (-0.73 per cent), and Ranbaxy Laboratories (-0.46 per cent) ended the week in the negative territory. The pack of gainers was led by L&T, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Tata Power. All of them gainer over 10 per cent each.
Among the sectoral indices, PSU stocks registered substantial gains, as the BSE PSU index closed up 5.50 per cent. BSE IT gained 4.91 per cent, while BSE Banking added 4.36 per cent.
The combined daily average turnover on both exchanges went down by 11.36 per cent to Rs 10,903 crore. Foreign institutional investors did not participate in rally and invested only Rs 76 crore over the week. Domestic mutual funds though poured in a handsome sum of Rs 566 crore.
Outlook
The picture looks rosier for the equity markets. A 8.10 per cent growth in the GDP in the first quarter of the current financial year is likely to boost the market sentiments. The forthcoming result season too will influence the sentiments.
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