Boring week ends in red; Sensex, Nifty witness marginal losses

The Indian indices were all locked in a tight range for the week ended October 26, 2012 with no major action on the D-street. The Sensex fell 57 points while the Nifty ended the week down by 20 points. L&T Q2 net profit jumps 42% TCS up over 2% on strong Q2 earnings M&M hits weekly high post Q2 results Mukesh Ambani retains top position in Forbes India rich list Indian Indices: The Indian markets closed a holiday-shortened week on a negative note. The week saw the Indian markets trading in a tight range and struggling for direction. The markets were locked in a narrow range and were waiting for some triggers to break out of the range throughout the week. The Sensex swung points between a weekly high of 18812.93 and a weekly low of 18558.05 and closed the week lower by 254.88 points or 0.30% at 18625.34. The Nifty swung 79.8 points between a weekly high of 5721.55 and a weekly low of 5641.75 and closed the week 19.95 points lower or 0.35% at 5664.30. The key benchmark indices fell in two out of four sessions of the week. Weekly market trend from October 22 - October 26, 2012 Trading for the week began on a negative note. The Sensex opened below the 18,700 mark and the Nifty below 5700 on the back of weak global cues and selling pressure. The Indian equity benchmarks witnessed a reversal trend due to strong earnings from blue chip companies such as Larsen & Toubro and Tata Consultancy Services, which lifted market sentiments. The Sensex rose 111.13 points to close at 18,793 while Nifty up 32.90 points to end 5717.15. On October 23, 2012, the Indian markets closed the trend on a negative note with no major action owing to profit booking and selling pressure backed by subdued global cues. The Sensex ended at 18710.02, down by 83.42 points, while the Nifty closed at 5691.40, down by 25.75 points. On October 24, 2012, the markets remained closed on account of 'Vijaya Dashmi'. On October 25, 2012, Indian markets ended with modest gains marked by volatility due to the expiry of futures & options contracts for October series. Gains in global markets too boosted the sentiments. The Sensex ended up by 48.61 points to close at 18,758.63 while Nifty rose 13.90 points to settle at 5705.30. On October 26, 2012, the Indian markets closed the week on a negative note led by negative global peers. Petrol price are expected to witness a rise of 30 paise per litre and diesel prices are expected to shoot up by 18 paise a litre after government decided to increase the commission paid to petrol pump dealers. The Sensex fell 133.29 points to close at 18625.34, while the Nifty slipped 41 points to settle at 5664.30. Global indices: All the global indices closed the week in the negative zone. Shanghai Composite was down by 2.92%, CAC40 down by 2.65%, DAX100 down by 2.44%, Dow Jones down by 1.80%, FTSE100 down by 1.55%, Nikkei down by 0.77%, Nasdaq down by 0.65% and Hang Seng was down by 0.03%. Sectoral and stock screening: Among the 13 sectoral indices, ten closed the week lower. Gainers - BSE CG up by 2.34%, BSE Auto surged by 0.39% and BSE Bankex rose by 0.18%. Major Losers - BSE CD declined by 4.26%, BSE FMCG down by 3.01% and BSE Realty fell by 2.38%. Looking at the 'A' group stocks, the top three gainers of the week were Indiabulls Financial Services (up 10.45%), Yes Bank (rose by 8.78%) and Emami (rose by 8.35%). The top three losers of the week were IRB Infrastructure developers (down by 18.51%), GMR Infrastructure (down by 6.89%) and Unitech (down by 6.6%). FII/MF activity: The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been the net buyers Indian stocks to the tune of Rs759.2 crore till October 23, 2012. The domestic investors sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs198.2 crore on October 23, 2012. Market Outlook: Unlike the dull trading week that markets witnessed this time, the next week is expected to be all action-packed. The next batch of second quarter corporate earnings, Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) review of its second-quarter review of Monetary Policy on October 30, 2012 will be the key events next week. RBI left interest rates unchanged at its last policy meeting on September 17, 2012 citing sticky inflation. Apart from this, the monthly auto sales and cement dispatches data for for October 2012 will also be released from Thursday, (November 01, 2012). Important results announcements in the coming week: BHEL, Maruti Suzuki India, Grasim Industries, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Power Grid Corporation of India and Wipro. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce its second quarter review of the Monetary Policy - 2012-13 on Tuesday, 30 October 2012. On October 3, 2012, RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn had earlier said that the central bank will factor in the impact of the government's economic reforms on growth and inflation while formulating its monetary policy. Markit Economics will unveil HSBC India Manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for October 2012 on Thursday (November 01, 2012). Markit Economics will unveil HSBC India Services PMI for October 2012 on November 05, 2012. From the political front, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is reportedly expected to carry out a major reshuffle of his cabinet on Sunday (October 28, 2012), that could see Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi joining the government. The likely changes are aimed at strengthening Congress' prospects in the upcoming state elections and the 2014 general elections.