By IANS
Mumbai : As uncertainty and fear gripped global equity markets during the week ended Friday, Indian shares too came under their spell with a major index ending in the red after wild fluctuations.
Looking ahead, analysts do not foresee any major forward movement and expect the sentiments to be largely ruled by the signals emerging from the US market, where stocks have fallen due to an uncertain mortgage market.
The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed the week at 14,868.25 points, taking a hit of 270.15 points, or 1.78 percent, over last week’s close at 15,138.40 points.
But this, the analysts said, is hardly an indicator of the volatility that gripped Indian shares. On Friday, for example, the Sensex was down by as much as 529.26 points during intra-day trading before staging a recovery that cut the losses.
“The fundamentals, we all know, are strong for Indian stocks. But there is also this lingering discomfort at the situation in the global markets, especially in the US, which may cause panic,” said an analyst with a brokerage here.
“Yet there are opportunities in individual counters like in some mid-cap firms that may offer good returns in the medium term and investors should keep their eyes open for such deals,” he advised.
The benchmark index opened sharply lower at 14,892.60 points Monday, against previous Friday’s close of 15,138.40 points, and registered a loss of 235.37 points, or 1.55 percent, on the first day of trading for the week.
Tuesday saw the key index take a dip of 29.74 points, only to bounce back with a handsome gain of 375.21 points or 2.51 percent the next day. In the process, the Sensex also inched up above the psychologically important 15,000-point mark.
The index again took a major hit of 207.83 points, or 1.36 percent, Thursday and topped it with a loss of 231.90 point, or 1.54 percent, Friday, to end the week with an overall loss of 1.78 percent.
Only technology stocks managed to buck the trend, with counters for metal, fast moving consumer goods and banking companies particularly coming under a major bout of bear hammering.