Keep your portfolio healthy!

…So if you're not healthy to begin with, getting the flu can easily turn into a very serious medical situation.

We can barely handle a regular flu outbreak. As if the deficit monsoon was not enough, we now have to grapple with the growing concerns over swine flu. Though the situation has not yet reached alarm levels, it might have some effect on sentiment. More worrisome is the virtual disappearance of rains. Food prices are already pretty high and with the festival season approaching, it is likely to spike up further. A drought is the last thing that India needs at this crucial juncture.

Thankfully, the bulls got a dose of good news over the weekend in terms of stronger than expected US jobs data. This has come as a shot in the arm for the market, which is likely to overlook worries over swine flu and shortfall in monsoon. Among the key events to watch out this week would be the IIP numbers and comments from the Fed. We see the Nifty moving in a broad range of 4300-4800 in the near term. Ensure a healthy balance of your portfolio to stay immune from the vagaries of the market.

FIIs were net sellers of Rs10.5bn in the cash segment on Friday on a provisional basis while the local funds pumped in Rs4.14bn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs7.92bn. On Thursday, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs2.46bn in the cash segment. Their net purchases of Indian stocks have crossed $7.4bn year-to-date. Mutual Funds were net buyers of Rs212mn on Thursday.

Asian stocks rose, led by automakers and consumer companies, after the US jobless rate dropped and Japanese machinery orders increased, boosting confidence that the world’s two largest economies are emerging from recessions.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.4% to 112.28 as of 11:35 a.m. in Tokyo, following a 1% drop last week. The regional benchmark has climbed 59% from a more than five-year low on March 9.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.3% to 10,545.90. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2% to 20,789.

Japanese machinery orders rose for the first time in four months and the current-account surplus widened. Orders rose 9.7% from May, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, more than the 2.6% expected by economists. The current-account surplus more than doubled in June from a year earlier to 1.15 trillion yen (US$11.8bn), expanding for the first time since February 2008 as exports improved.

The US economy may be on the cusp of a recovery and the impact of the nation’s stimulus plan should increase this quarter, said Laura Tyson, an adviser to President Barack Obama. “We may have hit stability, we may be in the beginning of an upturn based on the latest economic data," Tyson, a member of the White House’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said yesterday during an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Nobel Prize- winning economist Paul Krugman said that the deepest slump since the Great Depression may be ending. "It’s quite possible, though not certain, that retrospectively, we’ll say that the recession ended in July or August, maybe September,” Krugman said in a separate interview in the Malaysian capital. “My guess is that we’ve bottomed out now, that August was probably the trough month.”

US stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at the highest point in nine months, after the July jobs report showed the smallest number of job cuts in nearly a year, adding to recovery hopes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 114 points, or 1.2%, to 9370.07. The S&P 500 index rose 13 points, or 1.3%, to 1010.48. The Nasdaq Composite index added 27 points, or 1.4%, to 2000.25. All three indexes finished higher for the week.

US employers cut 247,000 jobs from their payrolls in July after slashing a revised 443,000 jobs in June. Economists had forecast job cuts of 325,000. It was the lowest level of losses since last August.

It was the best reading on non-farm payrolls since before Lehman Brothers' collapse last September.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, fell to 9.4% in July from 9.5% in June, versus forecasts for a rise to 9.6%.

The stock advance was broad based, with 24 of 30 Dow components rising.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all hit fresh 2009 highs earlier last week following three weeks of gains. Since bottoming March 9 at a 12-year low, the S&P 500 has risen 49.4% as of Friday's close.

AIG reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years on Friday, but the troubled insurer continues to struggle in the aftermath of its near-collapse last fall. AIG still owes taxpayers $87.6 billion. The stock nearly doubled in the run-up to the profit report. AIG gained another 20.5% on Friday.

President Obama on Friday signed into law an extension of the auto sales stimulus program that will keep it running through Labor Day. On Thursday, the Senate approved $2 billion in extra funding for the popular program, which gives consumers up to $4,500 if they turn in gas guzzlers and buy more fuel-efficient models.

US light crude oil for September delivery fell $1.01 to settle at $70.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have been gaining in recent weeks on bets the global economy is close to turning around.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $3.40 to settle at $959.50 an ounce. Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.85% from 3.74% late on Thursday. In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the Japanese yen.

Europe stocks advanced on Friday. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index reversed earlier losses to gain 1.2% to 230.66 after the US Labor Department report. The gains put the index 48% above March lows of 155.38.

Germany's DAX index rose 1.7% to 5,458.96, the UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.9% to 4,731.56 and the French CAC 40 index gained 1.3% to 3,521.14.

Nifty struck a new 2009 high this week. But the bull’s victory was short-lived. Concerns on the monsoon deficit and its wider fallout on the economy, especially on food prices and apprehension over the drought spreading across the country coincided with profit booking across the board. Finally, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex closed the week lower by 3.3%.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex slipped 354 points or 2.2% at 15,160 after touching a high of 15,502 and a low of 15,104. The index opened at 15,441 against the previous close of 15,514. The NSE Nifty ended lower by 104 points to shut shop at 4,481.

In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan ended higher by 0.3% at 10,412 while Australia's S&P/ASX ended lower by 0.6% at 4,299. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended lower by 2.5% at 20,375. Shanghai index in China slipped by 2.8% at 3,260.

In Europe, stocks were trading lower. The FTSE in the UK was down 1.1%. The DAX was down 0.7% and the CAC 40 index in France was down 1%.

Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the Consumer Durables index was the top loser, losing 4%, followed by the Auto index that was down 3.8%. The BSE Realty index down 3.2% and the BSE Bankex index was down 3%.

The BSE Mid-Cap index ended lower by 2.3% and the BSE Small-Cap index ended lower by 2%.

Within the Sensex, the major losers were RCom, JP Associates, M&M, Maruti and Tata Power. Among the major gainers were NTPC, Tata Steel and Wipro.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Tech M, United Spirits, IRB Infra, IDBI Bank and Opto Circuit. On the other hand, gainers included Lupin, Shriram transport, Mphasis and Biocon.

For the week, The top gainers: The top gainers in Sensex were Reliance Industries (up 2.2%), Wipro (up 2%) and Hindalco (up 1%).

The Top Losers: The top losers in the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki (down 8.6%), ITC (down 7.9%), Hero Honda (down 7.9%), Hindustan Unilever (down 7.5%), and DLF (down 7.3%).

The BSE IT Index (down 1.1%): The top losers in the IT sector were Oracle Financial (down 3.7%), TCS (down 3.2%), Patni (down 1.3%) and Infosys (down 1.2%).

Mahindra Satyam ended 2% lower in the week. Mahindra Satyam has outstanding income tax dues of Rs5.3bn, S.S. Palanimanickam, junior finance minister said.

The top gainer was Financial Tech. The stock surged over 9% during the week. Reports stated that the company plans to divest 52% in the MCX-SX bourse by September-end.

Wipro gained 2% during the week. The company announced that it has entered into a 5-year strategic agreement with US-based multi-brand specialty retailer, Charming Shoppers, stated reports.

Among the major gainers were Sasken Communication (up 9%), Wipro (up 2%) and HCL (up 1.4%).

The BSE Consumer Index: The top losers in the consumer durables space were Blue Star (down 8.4%), Mirc Electronics (down 4.1%), Samtel Color (down 2%) and Whirlpool (down 1.5%).

The top gainer was Su-Raj Diamonds (up 3.4%).

The BSE Healthcare Index (down 0.9%): The top losers in the Pharma space were Divi’s Labs (down 11.4%), Ranbaxy Labs (down 6.8%), Strides Arcolab (down 6.5%), Emami (down 5.9%) and Suven Life (down 4.9%).

The top gainers were Astrazeneca Pharma (up 21.9%), Dishman Pharma (up 11.3%), Marksans Pharma (up 6%) and Panacea Biotec (up 4.9%).