Sensex, Nifty post biggest weekly fall since mid-March

Markets ended lower for eighth straight trading session this Friday on back of selling pressure witnessed in rate-sensitive shares as investors remained uncertain as to when the central bank will rollback its short-term rate hike aimed to curb rupee’s fall.

 

 

Bank shares dropped after the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Friday the central bank would roll back recent cash tightening measures only after it determines stability has been restored in the foreign exchange market.

 

Broader markets ended weak with mid-caps falling 0.4 per cent while small-caps declined 1.3 per cent on the BSE.

 

The market breadth was negative. Out of 2, 407 stocks traded so far, 1,487 shares declined while 777 advanced on the BSE.

 

Foreign institutional investors bought Rs 1.78 billion of local shares on Thursday, exchange data showed, while domestic institutions were net sellers of Rs 2.94 billion of shares.

 

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RUPEE
 

The rupee fell on higher demand for the US currency from importers, even as RBI took more measures to curb the domestic unit's fall.

 

At 4pm, The partially convertible currency was trading at 61.05 per US dollar compared to yesterday’s close of 60.43. 

 

 

Global risk appetite improved after US factory output surged rose to its highest level since June 2011, easing concerns a slowdown in emerging economies may take a toll on US growth..

 

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 3.2% to 14,466, China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.02% to 2,029, Singapore’s Straits Times added 0.3% to 3,254 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5% to 22,190.

 

European stocks traded mixed. France’s CAC gained 0.2% to 4,051, Germany’s DAX rose 0.1% to 8,418 while UK’s FTSE shed 0.1% to 6.674 today.

 

Investors awaited the official US payrolls report due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Employers added a net 185,000 workers in July, after hiring 195,000 in the previous month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

 

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Domestically, among the sectoral indices, banks, realty, auto and metal indices dropped while consumer durable and IT indices gained on the BSE.

 

The key gainers included counters such as Infosys and TCS rising between 1-1.5%,Reliance Industries gained 0.8%, Hindalco Industries added 0.4% while Tata Motors rose 0.3% on the BSE.

 

The laggards were Jindal Steel slumping nearly 7.5%, Coal India dropped 6%, Sterlite Industries shed 3% while Tata Power and Tata Steel ended lower nearly 4% on the BSE.

 

 

 

The key notable movers included counters such as Adani Enterprises that fell by 11% on reports that one of its group companies Adani Agro has an exposure of Rs 325 crore in castor seeds contracts on the National Spot Exchange Ltd. 

 

Titan Industries moved higher by 8.5% to Rs 281.70, after reporting a strong 42% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net sales at Rs 3,088 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1), largely driven by jewellery on account of drop in gold prices. The company had sales income of Rs 2,175 crore in a year ago quarter.

 

Power Grid Corporation of India tanked 12% to Rs 91.05 after its board approved to raise funds for its investment programme by issuing equity shares through follow on public offer (FPO).

 

Strides Arcolab rallied 12% to Rs 695, extending its previous day’s 6% surge, after the pharmaceutical company said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for anti-AIDS combination drug.