By IANS,
Mumbai : Bears ruled the roost this week at the Indian equities markets as an insipid interim budget dashed the hopes of investors and global markets slipped further in the red. A key index lost 8.22 percent over its last weekly close.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended at 8,843.21 points, registering a 8.22 percent or 791.53 points decrease from last Friday’s close of 9,634.74 points.
Similarly, the broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shut shop at 2,736.45 – a 7.18 percent fall from last week’s close.
Broader market indices like the BSE midcap index lost 221.23 points, 7.34 percent lower than its previous weekly close, while the BSE smallcap index was down 234.99 points or 6.92 percent.
“Last week’s rally was owing to expectations from the interim budget but as that failed to provide any good news, investors lost confidence,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, chief executive of New Delhi-based brokerage firm, SMC Group.
“Overall, there is more rough weather ahead. The foreign investor’s mood is also quite clear. They are not willing to commit big amounts to equity markets in developing countries,” he added.
Markets started the week on a dismal note with the Sensex closing 3.42 percent lower than its previous close. The 30-scrip Sensex lost 329.29 points to close at 9,305.45 points. At shutters, the Nifty was down 3.39 percent and ended at 2,848.5 points.
Tuesday was another bearish day with the Sensex losing another 2.91 percent or 270.45 points to close at 9,035 points. Similarly, the Nifty slipped to 2,770.5 points, 2.74 percent lower than its last close.
The Sensex slipped marginally Wednesday to close at 9,015.18 points, down 0.22 percent or 19.82 points from its previous close of 9,035 points. The Nifty acted similarly closing 0.2 percent lower at 2,776.15 points.
The Sensex showed some resilience Thursday even as cues from global markets turned negative. The 30 scrip BSE index shut shop at 9,042.63 points, 27.45 points or 0.3 percent up from its previous close. The Nifty too closed higher at 2,789.35 points, up 0.48 percent from its last close.
The week’s end though was far from encouraging with Sensex dipping below the psychologically important 9,000-mark Friday to close at 8,843.21 points, a decrease of 2.21 percent or 199.42 points. At close, the broader-based S&P CNX Nifty was at 2,736.45 points, 1.9 percent down from its previous close.
The top gainers this week on the Sensex were ITC (up 0.5 percent) and Maruti Suzuki (up 0.1 percent).
Among the top losers on the Sensex were ICICI bank (down 22.7 percent), Reliance Capital (down 14.4 percent), Reliance Industries (down 14 percent), Hindalco (down 14 percent) and Tata Steel (down 13.4 percent).
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made net buys of $372.7 million this week compared to sale of $120.4 million worth of shares.