Up Again

The euphoria of the past few months vanished in just a day. One sharp correction sent the bulls running for cover.

The RBI hiked the CRR by 50 basis points causing a liquidity crisis which triggered the market fall.

On Monday (November 11), the Sensex fell by about 400 points to close at 13,399.43 while the Nifty at 3,850. Banking stocks were badly hit with ICICI Bank and SBI being the major losers. On the NSE just 98 advanced while 865 declined. On the BSE, 400 advanced while 1,392 declined. FIIs and mutual funds were net sellers to the extent of Rs 153 crore and Rs 602 crore, respectively.

Tuesday brought no relief for the bulls. Heavyweights ABB, ACC, SBI, BHEL, RIL and ONGC led the fall. Capital goods sector was the major loser with L&T, Siemens, ABB and Punj Lloyd beaten down.

The Sensex closed lower at 12,995 and Nifty at 3,717. Mid-cap stocks continued to take a beating and the CNX Mid Cap, which closed at 4940.6 on Monday closed at 4,723.8 on Tuesday.

Turnover on the BSE rose from Rs 4,920.29 crore to Rs 4930.56 crore today. Ditto on the NSE. It rose from Rs 9,344.45 crore on Monday to Rs 11,085.28 crore on Tuesday.

On the NSE, 70 stocks advanced while 900 declined. On the BSE, 277 advanced while 1,518 declined.

Mutual funds continued as net sellers to the tune of Rs 517.51 crore while FIIs were net buyers worth Rs 422.3 crore.

Wednesday was a little better than Tuesday. Banking and Capital Goods were back in demand with RIL, ACC, SBI, Satyam Computer and L&T causing the indices to rise.

The Sensex closed at 13,181.34 (higher than Tuesday but lower than Monday) and the Nifty at 3,765.

Turnover on the BSE was Rs 4421.32 crore and on the NSE, Rs 9635.82 crore.

The number of scrips that advanced (706) on the NSE (245) was higher than those that declined and also on the BSE with 1171 advances and 564 declines.

FIIs were net buyers only to the extent of Rs 95.2 crore.

The bulls managed to get a grip on the market on Thursday. The Nifty closed at 3,843 and the Sensex at 13,487.16. The CNX Mid Cap closed at 4,959.8. Banking and technology stocks led from the front. Turnover was low on the BSE (Rs 4415.47 crore) and NSE (Rs 8086.76 crore). On the NSE as many as 851 stocks advanced while just 109 declined. On the BSE, 1,462 advanced while just 307 declined.

This was despite FIIs being net sellers to the tune of Rs 96.9 crore.

The week ended on a better note than it began with the Nifty closing at 3,889 and the Sensex at 13,614.52. The turnover rose to Rs 4,174.5 crore on the BSE and Rs 8,727.03 crore on the NSE. On the BSE, 1,003 advanced while a substantial 657 declined. The CNX Mid Cap closed at 5,011.45.

SBI, NTPC, ITC, BHEL, Tata Steel and ACC were the top losers this week while Satyam and Reliance Communications were the biggest gainers. Tata Steel, which had lost almost 10 per cent in the beginning of the week, recorded a robust 5 per cent gain on Friday to close at Rs 459.25 on the talks that the steel giant might back out of Corus bid.