This Week in Stocks - Marching Ahead

Last week, after six successive trading sessions, the markets ended on a negative note on Friday (November 17) and FIIs turned out to be net sellers in the cash segment as well as the F&O segment. Everyone eagerly awaited Monday to see how the markets would fare.

Monday turned out to be a volatile day. Despite the Sensex plunging over 200 points, it managed to close in the green thanks to late buying in blue chip stocks like Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HLL, Hero Honda and M&M. The BSE benchmark Sensex ended flat to close at 13,430 and the Nifty closed at 3,856 up 3 points. FIIs were net purchasers to the tune of Rs 1,302 crore while MFs net sellers to the tune of Rs 285.78 crore.

On Tuesday, the Sensex surged 186 points to close at an all-time high of 13,616 and the Nifty added 62 points to close at 3,918. Ironically, FII net purchases were a far cry from Monday at just Rs 58 crore while MFs continued to be net sellers at Rs 78.81 crore. ITC, Bharti Airtel, Tisco and Gujarat Ambuja were the major gainers while HDFC, Tata Power, HLL and SCI were among the major losers. Info Edge made an impressive debut on the bourses. The scrip surged 85 per cent to Rs 594 (after touching an intra-day high of Rs 623 and low of Rs 480) as against the issue price of Rs 320.

On Wednesday, the Sensex touched another high to close at 13,706 and the Nifty at 3,954. All the key indices ended with gains excluding the FMCG index. FIIs were net purchasers to the tune of Rs 642 crore and MFs for this first time this week turned out to be net purchasers at Rs 184.25 crore.

Selling pressure in RIL, HLL, ITC, Satyam Computer and Tata Motors dragged the BSE Benchmark Sensex to close at 13,680 (25 points down) and the Nifty at 3,945 (10 points down) on Thursday. Select metal, bank and auto stocks stood firm preventing a further downslide. MFs were net sellers at Rs 276.24 crore. Siemens, a star performer on Wednesday, fell by over 4.2 per cent to Rs 1,271 on back of profit booking. The company announced its Q4 result with net profit up 31 per cent and revenue up 56 per cent.

The week ended with the Sensex closing above the 13,700 mark at 13,703 and the Nifty at 3,951.

Stocks that gained the most since last Friday were NTPC, Wipro, Satyam Computers, Hero Honda, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Reliance Energy and TCS.

Despite the ups and downs in the market, the CNX Midcap consistently rose over the week from 4,893 on Monday to close at 5,053 at the end of the week.