By IANS,
Mumbai : For the second successive week, Indian equities finished in the green Friday with a key index gaining 1.8 percent during the week.
The gains came following a slew of measures announced by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, last Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance to industry leaders Monday and lending rate cuts by banks Thursday, two days after being asked to do so by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
After losing 35 percent during the first three weeks of October, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) gained 12.5 percent in the last week of October and another 1.8 percent in the first week of November.
Still the Sensex closed this Friday a few points below the psychologically important 10,000 mark at 9,964.29 points, showing a gain of 176.23 points or 1.8 percent from its close previous week Friday at 9,788.06 points.
Similarly, the broader-based 50-share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) finished the week Friday at 2,973.00 points, up 87.4 points or 3 percent from its close Friday previous week at 2,885.60 points.
The BSE midcap ended Friday this week at 3,355.38 points, up 155.36 points or 4.9 percent from its close Friday previous week at 3,200.02 points.
The BSE smallcap finished Friday this week at 3,900.10 points, up 134.99 points or 3.6 percent from its close Friday previous week at 3,765.11 points.
The week began strongly with the Sensex opening Monday more than 400 points higher than its close Friday previous week and stayed in positive territory throughout the day to close at 10,337.68, a gain of 549.62 points or 5.62 percent.
The S&P CNX Nifty too finished in the green crossing the psychologically important 3,000 mark to close at 3,057.15, up 171.55 points or 5.95 percent from its close Friday previous week at 2,885.60 points.
Tuesday saw equities markets open weak on profit booking but they surged later in the day to end in the green after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced that state-owned banks had agreed to cut lending rates during their meeting with him.
The Sensex closed Tuesday at 10,631.12, up 293.44 points or 2.84 percent from its previous close Monday at 10,337.68 points.
The S&P CNX Nifty also opened weak but then recovered to close Tuesday at 3,142.10 points, up 98.25 points or 3.23 percent from its previous close Monday at 3,043.85 points.
After three successive days of gain – Friday last week and Monday and Tuesday this week – equities markets again went into a tailspin Wednesday and finished in the red with the Sensex shedding more than 500 points in a single day.
The Sensex finished Wednesday at 10,120.01, down 511.11 points or 4.81 percent from its previous close Tuesday at 10,631.12 points.
The S&P CNX Nifty also opened strong but closed at 2,994.95, down 147.15 points or 4.68 percent from its previous close Tuesday at 3,142.10 points.
The bear grip continued Thursday sending the Sensex below the psychologically important 10,000 mark with a loss of nearly 400 points.
The Sensex finished Thursday at 9,734.22, down 385.79 points or 3.81 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 10,120.01 points.
With the markets still in a firm bear grip, it was only expected that short covering would see markets bounce back a little Friday after shedding nearly 900 points in the previous two days.
The Sensex finished Friday at 9,964.29 with a thin gain of 230.07 points or 2.36 percent from its previous close at 9,734.22 points.
The S&P CNX Nifty closed Friday at 2,973.00, up 80.35 points or 2.78 percent from its previous closing at 2,892.65 points.
The markets would remain range bound, analysts felt, till there were some signs of stability in the global financial system and investors were again ready to take strong positions.
Also, foreign institutional investors will have to stop selling if the markets have to really recover on a sustained basis, they added.