By IANS
Mumbai : The Indian equities market continued its volatile trend as the effect of global bearish market was clearly felt by the bourses this week.
Two major Initial Public Offers (IPOs) open for subscription – Wockhardt Hospitals and Emaar MGF – were compelled to retreat when their issues elicited unexpectedly poor response from investors. Uncertainty in the secondary market hit new IPOs hard.
The market suffered losses for the fourth straight week as selling pressure continued for index pivotals. Out of the five trading session three ended in the red.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-shares Sensex lost 777.69 points or 4.26 percent to 17,464.89 in the week ended Friday. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 196.90 points or 3.70 percent to 5,120.35.
Small-cap and mid-cap indices outperformed the Sensex, though they went down as well. The mid-cap index declined 128.27 points or 1.65 percent to 7,633.27 in the week. The small-cap index lost 151.97 points or 1.51 percent to 9,920.35.
The pall of gloom continued mid-week with the IT major Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) announcing 500 staffers had been given the pink slip.
Trading for the week started on an upbeat note with Sensex surging 417.74 points or 2.29 percent at 18,660.32 on Monday.
The same day, the Nifty gained 146.25 points or 2.75 percent at 5,463.50. The sentiment was boosted by Microsoft Corp’s bid for Yahoo Inc and following China’s buy of a large stake in takeover target Rio Tinto.
On Tuesday the 30-share BSE Sensex rose a meagre 2.84 points or 0.02 percent at 18,663.16, after a weak start. The Nifty was up 20.4 points or 0.37 percent to 5,483.90.
The Sensex slumped 523.67 points or 2.81 percent at 18,139.49 Wednesday. On the same day, the P Nifty declined 161.35 points or 2.94 percent at 5,322.55. Weak Asian markets played the spoilsport.
On Thursday, the Sensex plunged 612.56 points or 3.38 percent at 17,526.93, its biggest fall in a fortnight, following late sell-off in index pivotals. The Nifty lost 189.30 points or 3.56 percent at 5,133.25
The Sensex declined 62.04 points or 0.35 percent Friday to 17,464.89, after seeing volatile swings throughout the day. The Nifty slipped 12.90 points or 0.25 percent at 5,120.35.
According to Securities Exchange Board of India data, in five trading sessions the Indian equity market attracted FII investment to the tune of $1,526.70 million.
India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 4.75 percent at Rs.2,421.75 in the week. The country’s second largest listed telecom firm by sales Reliance Communications (RCom) advanced 5.61 percent to Rs.646.10 in the week.
Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of Rcom, has filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offer (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The company will offer 8,91,64,100 shares of Rs.5 each for cash, constituting 10.05 percent of its post-issue paid-up equity capital.
Reliance Power, which raised a record $3 billion in its initial share sale in January 2008, will list on exchanges Monday. The IPO last month had created a record after it secured bids for $190 billion.
DLF, the largest real estate developer in terms of market capitalisation, gained 0.39 percent to Rs.816.70 in the week. The stock will replace Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals, in the Nifty from March 14.
India’s third largest software services exporter Wipro declined 3.40 percent to Rs.422.45 in the week. Tata Motors, the country’s largest truck manufacturer in terms of sales, shed 5.72 percent to Rs.711.15. It reported an 11.76 percent fall in its passenger car sales in the domestic market during January 2008 to 20,119 from 22,801 in the same month a year ago. India’s top small carmaker in terms of sales Maruti Suzuki India slumped 11.15 percent to Rs.803.85.
The country’s largest oil exploration company in terms of market capitalisation Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) lost 4.52 percent to Rs.997.25 in the week.
Banking stocks were mixed. ICICI Bank declined 10.94 percent to Rs.1066.70 and HDFC Bank lost 7.74 percent to Rs.1445.95. However, India’s largest commercial bank in terms of net profit State Bank of India rose 0.27 percent to Rs.2,191.45.