Sensex sheds 491.89 pts during the week

Indian markets wrapped the week on an unpleasant note with a hefty loss of 491.89 points during the week failing to sustain the 17k-level. Aggressive selling by the foreign funds in frontline stocks amid discouraging global cues, dragged the index down. The better than expected earnings announced by IT major Infosys failed to lift the market sentiments.

The 30 share index, Sensex tumbled 491.89 points, or 2.87%, to 16,642 in the week ended Oct. 09, 2009. On the other hand, the broad based NSE Nifty lost 138.2 points, or 2.72%, to 4945.2.

Mid-cap stocks fell marginally 0.63 points, or 0.01%, to 6,301.38 in the week. Small-cap shares dropped 215.39 points, or 2.84%, to 7,371.79 during the week.

Major gainers over the week in the sectoral indices were FMCG, which soared 6.15% followed by Consumer durables, which surged 5.60%, Metal moved up by 2.17% and Healthcare up by 1.20%.

Top losers over the week in the sectoral indices were Teck, which tumbled 10.74%, IT plummeted 7.25%, Realty and Auto dropped over 2%, Bankex and Oil & gas down over 1% each.

The official Wholesale Price Index for `All Commodities` the week ended Sep. 26, 2009 stood at 0.70% as compared to 0.83% (Provisional) for the previous week ended Sep. 19, 2009 and 12.08% during the week ended Sep. 27, 2008 of the previous year.

Corporate Events:

Mukesh Ambani led India`s largest private sector company, Reliance Industries announced on Wednesday October 7, the board proposal to issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, subject to the shareholders approval. The announcement came as a surprise to the market which was reflected in its shares that gained over 3%. The board also declared dividend of Rs 13 a share for FY 09. This will result in a payment of Rs 22.19 billion inclusive of taxes of Rs 3.22 billion.

Both the bonus shares and dividend will accrue to the shareholders of erstwhile Reliance Petroleum which has been amalgamated recently with the company.

The company announced a marginal fall of 0.18% in consolidated net profit for the year ended Mar. 31 2009. During the year, the company reported a consolidated profit of Rs 152,960 million as against profit of Rs 153,240 million for the year ended Mar. 31, 2008.

Equity shares of Gujarat based Pipavav Shipyard got listed on the bourses on Oct.9, 2009. Shares of the company settled at Rs 57 a share, a discount of 1.72% as against its issue price of Rs 58 a share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday.
The scrip touched a high of Rs 61.10 and a low of Rs 53.85 after opening at a premium of 5.34% at Rs 61.10. A total of 81.16 million shares changed hands on the NSE.
Corporate Results:

Infosys Technologies, India`s second largest software service provider, announced a 7.54% rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September 2009. During the quarter, the consolidated net profit climbed to Rs 15.40 billion from Rs 14.32 billion in the same quarter last year. Consolidated income from software services, products and business process management for the quarter rose 3.08% to Rs 55.85 billion from the prior year period.

Mastek, a high-end IT solutions player announced its results for the quarter ended September 2009. During the quarter, the company posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 264 million, a decline of 25.25% over the prior year period.


Major gainers in 30-share index were Hindustan Unilever (8.26%), Reliance Energy (7.20%), ITC (7.01%), Tata Steel (4.36%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (3.37%) over the week.

On the other hand Reliance Communications (21.59%), Bharti Airtel (21.18%), Grasim Industries (11.17%), Tata Consultancy Services (11.12%), and Maruti Suzuki India (10.67%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex over the week