The Hindu Business Line : Markets this week

On Monday, following its Asian peers, the Sensex opened with a gain of 122 points from the previous week's close, and went on to touch an intraday high at 9,950 points.

However, but as the time wore on, the markets failed to sustain the gains made during the day, as sellers came in droves and made the Sensex lose some ground to closed at 9,830.

"There was a fair amount of buying by institutions in large-cap shares. Higher Asian indices amid expectations of a bailout of the U.S. auto industry and good third-quarter advance tax numbers by industries and banks also helped ", said Mr S.P. Tulsian, a member of the NSE.

Public sector banks have brought cheer to small home loan seekers by cutting rates under the new package aimed at stimulating demand in the retail housing sector.

Sugar stocks also surged after Allahabad High Court's decision to raise the cane procurement price.

The markets opened on a positive note and index rose 2.7 per cent in intraday and Sensex closed up 1.5 per cent, at 9, 832.39. On the NSE, Nifty closed up 59.85 points at 2,981.20. It had risen to 3,012.10 during intraday trade.

Every fifth stock traded on the BSE hit the upper circuit on Tuesday and the strong buying sentiment helped this trend.

The Sensex crossed the 10,000-mark in intra-day trade while the Nifty, after choppy trade during the day, closed above the 3,000-mark, as a rush of buying in the closing hours of trade led to gains across stocks.

The buying mainly came from proprietary traders whose net purchase of equity amounted to Rs 32.9 crore. FIIs were net buyers for Rs 6.42 crore while domestic institutions were net sellers for Rs 39.4 crore.

The Mid-cap and the Small-cap indices outperformed the Sensex with gains of 2.50 per cent and 3.21 per cent respectively.

The benchmark index finally closed 144 points up at 9,976. The broader Nifty index closed at 3,041.

Satyam Computer Services dragged Indian shares lower on Wednesday, after the software company dented investor confidence following an initial decision to buy into a pair of infrastructure firms in which Satyam's founders hold stakes, dealers said. Satyam computers lost 30.2% to end at 158.05 after reversing the plans to buy out Maytas properties and acquire 51 per cent stakes in Maytas Infra Ltd.

The Sensex had gained in early trade following the US Federal Reserve's decision to cut its target interest rate.

Technology counters ended higher as investors shifted from Satyam to companies perceived to have better corporate governance practises. Infosys Technologies ended up 1.5 per cent at Rs 1,139.80 and Wipro ended up .5 per cent at Rs 243.

Banks closed up, aided by expectations that there will be a decline in lending and deposit rates, as the US Fed's rate cuts spurred hope that the Indian central bank will follow suit.

The Sensex closed down 261.69 points at 9,715.29. It traded between 9,682.91 and 10,073.10 during the session. Nifty closed down 87.40 points at 2,954.35.

Fall in inflation figures steeper than what the market expectated, reports about the Government considering a second stimulus package and speculation about another rate cut by RBI, boosted sentiment in the stock market on Thursday.

The Sensex opened just five points up and then turned negative touching a low of 9,633, taking a cue from the weaker overnight US market and subdued trend in the Asian markets. It however staged a sharp upward move from that level after the inflation data was released around 11 a.m.

The Sensex closed above the 10,000- mark after a gap of more than a month at 10,076 with a gain of 361 points. The Nifty also closed at 3,060 with a gain of 106 points.

On Friday, though weakness was seen in all the global indices, the Indian markets defied the bears. The Sensex traded in a lacklustre manner and finished the day with a paltry gain of 23 points, but on a weekly basis gained a handsome 400 points, thereby taking the market outlook to positive terrain. Realty stocks were the star performers on the final day of the week with major stocks gaining more than 10 per cent.

Compiled by S Narayanamurthi and B L Sudharsan

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