Markets down for 5th week in a row

The Indian markets closed the week lower for fifth straight week. The Sensex fell 0.60% and the Nifty declined 0.75%

Major news for the week:

Mahindra Satyam agree to merge with Tech Mahindra

RIL D6 output hits all-time low shuts 6 wells

RBI limits gold loan by NBFCs to 60%

Rail Minister Mukul Roy rolls back some fare hikes

TRAI summons Airtel, Idea, Loop on MNP



Indian indices:

Indian markets closed in the negative zone for fifth week in a row. The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pulled out some money by selling Indian equities. The weakness of the Indian rupee against the US dollar also left investors jittery.

Political worries also added to the concerns after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi's resignation.

There was good news for the local Indians on roll back of rail fare hike presented by Mukul Roy. Mamata Banerjee's new nominee in Railway Ministry Mukul Roy on Thursday (March 22, 2012) withdrew the hike in passenger fares for all classes including suburban trains except AC 2 tier and First class.

The manufacturing data of China also disappointed the markets. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.1 in March, which was the lowest level in four months compared with a final reading of 49.6 for February on the gauge which is published by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics.

The Indian markets fell in four out of five sessions of the week. The Sensex slipped 104.46 points (0.60%) to 17,361.74 in the week ended Friday, 23 March 2012 and Nifty declined 39.70 points (0.74%) to 5278.20.

Losers of the week: Hindalco Industries down 6.23%, Tata Power down 5.77%, State Bank of India down 2.81%, Coal India down 2.22%, ONGC down 2.2%, L&T down 1.33% and Sterlite Industries down 1.14%, edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Gainers of the week: Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries up 6.22%, Hindustan Unilever up 3.28%, Hero MotoCorp up 3.21%, Bharti Airtel up 2.66%, M&M up 1.74%, TCS up 1.47%, HDFC Bank up 1.21% and GAIL (India) up 1.04%, edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Global indices

The global markets closed in the negative zone except Nasdaq, which gained 0.26%. Top three losers were DAX100 which fell 2.47%, FTSE100 declined 2.01% and Hang Seng fell 1.95%.

Sectoral and stock screening

Among 13 sectoral indices, 9 closed the week on a negative note. The only four gainers were BSE FMCG, which was up 2.71%, BSE HC up 1.77%, BSE TECk up 0.63% and BSE IT up 0.43%. The top three losers were BSE Metal down by 2.54%, BSE Power down by 2.50% and BSE OIL&GAS down by 2.20%. Other losers stood in the range of 0.27-1.53%

Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were Tech Mahindra which was up by 21.55%, TTK Prestige up 13.74% and Bata India up by 13.09%. The top three losers of the week were Manappuram Finance down by 19.31%, Muthoot Finance down by 11.63% and Shree Renuka Sugars down by 10%.

FII/MF activity

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net buyers of the Indian stocks worth a net of Rs1033.10 crore, while the domestic investors were net sellers of Indian stocks to the tune of Rs198.10 crore during the week till March 23, 2012.

Outlook

Markets are expected to remain volatile in the coming week. As F&O expiry is scheduled on Thursday, 29 March 2012 traders may settle their positions ahead of the financial year end closing.