Sensex ends fourth straight week in green

THE benchmark indices ended flat on Friday ahead of the US jobs data. The 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty held onto the psychological 8,000-mark. The BSE benchmark Sensex ended fourth straight week in the green with gains of 1.45%.

On Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth $51.75 million, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth $59.13 million, according to provisional data on the exchanges. In year-to-date, FIIs have bought shares worth $13.7 billion.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended lower by 59.23 points or 0.22% to 27,026.70 points, while the broader 50share Nifty shed 9.10 points or 0.11% to close at 8,086.85 points.

The US jobs data, which was released later in the day cast doubts over recovery of the world’s largest economy. According to a Bloomberg report, 142,000 jobs were added in August; breaking a string of payroll gains of more than 200,000 in calender year 2014.

The markets were kept in check with more than 2% declines in HDFC and Hero Motocorp. Coal India (CIL) ended 1.8% lower after the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said that surplus coal from captive mines should not be transferred to the CIL units as it may lead to disputes over fuel quality and result in transit losses. Among other bluechipss, Bhel (-1.5%), ICICI Bank (-1.46%) and Tata Motors (1.27%) were the major losers.

It was a positive week for the markets, with the benchmark indices advancing in three out of five sessions. With the economy growing at a two-year high of 5.7% in June quarter; the markets touched all-time highs on Monday.

The markets notched further gains on Tuesday with the current account deficit (CAD) narrowing to 1.7% of GDP in June quarter from 4.8% in the year-ago period.

Among its peers, most of the Asian markets edged lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 (0.05%), Hang Seng (-0.23%), Kospi (-0.33%), Straits Times (- 0.14%) and Taiwan Taiex (-0.22%) ended in the red. The European markets were showing a mixed trend with the FTSE and CAC trading marginally in the red, while the DAX seeing moderate gains.

Back home, 17 of the 30 Sensex stocks ended in the red on Friday. In the broader market, breadth was strong with 1,739 stocks traded on the BSE ending higher compared with 1,262 declines. Among sectoral indices, BSE Auto (0.65%), BSE Bankex (-0.30%) and BSE FMCG (-0.32%) were the major losers.

The NSE cash turnover on Friday was at R17,599 crore, the turnover in the exchange’s F&O segment stood at R1.69 lakh crore.

Experts say the upcoming festive season would set the near-term tone of the markets. “Festive season consumption (government revenue outlook) and important reforms (especially in oil & gas sector) post Maharashtra/Haryana elections are the near-ter m triggers. Other factors that could influence markets will be US interest rate outlook and pipeline of issuances,” Axis Capital said in a report.