The Hindu Business Line : Bears keep their date with Fridays

Chennai, June 27 If you thought ‘Friday the 13th’ was the only unlucky day, think again. An analysis of the recent stock market performance shows that markets have fallen in 6 out of the last 8 Fridays. During the same period, the wholesale price inflation has risen to 11.42 per cent, from 7.61 per cent, the data for which is disclosed every Friday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex has fallen in the range of 61-620 points on every Friday, while Nifty has lost 22-180 points on the last trading day of the week, from early May. The quantum of fall has been sharper on the last two Fridays, with the Sensex shedding over 500 points on each occasion. Markets have been spared only on two Fridays in the recent past that being on May 16 and May 30. However, experts are yet to accept the phenomenon of ‘Freaky Friday.’

Negative news

“I will not be able to tell whether this is a trend, but markets fell today on two counts. Firstly, inflation and then because oil touched $142-a-barrel mark. As you know, oil price rise is something creepy for equity as an asset class,” said Mr Hitesh Agarwal, Head of Research, Angel Broking.

While earlier it was ‘Manic Monday’, which spooked the investors, now Friday seems to be the harbinger of all negative news. Mr Gaurav Dua, Head (Research) of broking firm Sharekhan, agrees saying, “Possibly, negative news is coming in on Friday more because of the data for inflation being distributed on this day. Also, domestic markets have moved in line with what has happened around the world.”.

Similar script

In 2008, Sensex has fallen on 76 days out of the total 123 days when markets were open. Earlier Monday was the nervous day for stock market investors, as out of the 20 biggest Sensex declines, over seven have occurred on Mondays. A similar script is now unfolding on Fridays too, with bears having a field day.

“If inflation stays in the 12-13 per cent range and oil touches $170-180 a barrel, we are in for bigger falls,” Mr Agarwal of Angel Broking feels. With experts unsure of where markets will go and inflation expected to go even higher, investors cannot be blamed for approaching both the first and now the last day of the week with more than a bit of trepidation.

More Stories on : Stock Markets | Performance

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page