Volatile week; Markets down 4% on Europe jitters, weak rupee

The Indian markets fell for the fourth consecutive week and closed 4% lower on account of European jitters and depreciating rupee

Major headlines for the week

Food inflation at 9.01% vs 10.63%

Cabinet approves FDI in retail sector

FM expects inflation to moderate

FY12 fiscal deficit to exceed 4.6% of GDP target: Montek



Indian indices

It was a volatile week, with the markets declining on one day and then rising another. The situation in Europe, with worsening eurozone debt crisis and surging bond yields kept markets jittery. A weak economic data from Europe, China and the United States raised fresh worries about the trajectory of global growth. Volatility in the rupee was another cause of concern for the market.

Equities across the globe witnessed heavy sell-off as investors moved to less riskier assets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) cut their exposure to Indian stocks on the back of weakening rupee and economy. During the week, the markets touched the lowest level in more than two years.

The Sensex swung 818 points between a weekly high of 16297 and a low of 15479 and closed the week lower by 676 points or 4.13% at 15695. The Nifty swung 235 points between a weekly high of 4874 and a low of 4639 and closed the week lower by 196 points or 3.99% at 4710.

Global indices

All the global indices were lower this week on the back of ongoing euro crisis and growth issues. Biggest losers - Dax 100 down by 6.42%, CAC 40 down by 5.83% and Dow Jones down by 4.57%.

Sectoral and stock screening

All the sectoral indices closed the week with heavy losses barring BSE HC marginally up by 0.23%. Top Losers — BSE Metal was the weak performer of the week, down by 5.35%, followed by BSE CD down by 4.91% and BSE Oil & Gas down by 4.81%. Remaining nine slipped in the range of 0.18%-4.31%.

Coming to 'A' group stocks, top three gainers of the week – Amtek Auto jumped by 27.28%, Pantaloon Retail surged by 18.06% and Apollo Hospitals advanced by 16.20%. Top three losers of the week – SAIL tumbled by 12.27%, Shree Renuka Sugars slipped by 11.70% and Manappuram Finance fell by 11.55%.

FII/MF activity

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were the net sellers of Indian stocks this week to the tune of Rs4396 crore. The domestic investors bought Indian shares worth a net of Rs910 crore this week as on November 23, 2011.

Outlook

The government unveils Q2 September 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) data on Wednesday (November 30, 2011). Automobile and cement companies’ stocks will be eyed as they will release their sales volume data for December 2011 from Thursday (December 01, 2011). The HSBC's purchasing manager index (PMI) for the month of November, indicating health of manufacturing activity, is due next week. Europe will continue to remain in focus.