Sensex slips for second consecutive week (Weekly Market Review)

MUMBAI - The benchmark index for Indian stock markets fell two weeks in a row as domestic traders looked to book profits, with stocks having rallied handsomely in the past few months.

Foreign funds, however, continued with their persistent buying in the equities and bond markets, sparking off protests from the services sector to check currency gains and limiting overseas money inflows which are nearing $5 billion, all in two weeks of trading in October.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) slipped 0.62 percent or 125.21 points to end the week at 20,125.05 points.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty nudged 40.8 points or 0.66 percent during the week to close Friday at 6,062.65 points.

Overseas funds invested $1.94 billion during the week ending Friday, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). For the month, funds from foreign institutional investors stood at $4.98 billion.

Broader markets also saw a slight dip as profit booking spread across scrip sizes. The BSE midcap index moved 0.23 percent down, while the BSE smallcap index fell 1.11 percent.

Among top weekly gainers on the Sensex were Wipro, up 3.6 percent at Rs.473.50; Tata Motors, up 2.1 percent at Rs.1,156.55; Jindal Steel and Power, up 1.4 percent at Rs.712.60, and TCS, up 1.1 percent at Rs.951.

Top losers included Bharti Airtel, down 6.5 percent at Rs.334.25; NTPC, down six percent at Rs.203.45; Jaiprakash Associates, down 4.1 percent at Rs.130.70; and Tata Steel, down 3.9 percent at Rs.636.05.

Global markets, however, rose with the US Federal Reserve expected to bring down interest rates to help support a flail recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Among the other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.92 percent to close at 9,500.25 points.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended the week 8.49 percent higher at 2,971.16, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 3.55 percent up at 23,757.63 points.

European bourses managed moderate to good weekly gains.

FTSE 100 closed 0.81 percent higher at 5,703.37 points, while the German DAX rose 3.19 percent at 6,492.3 points. The French CAC 40 moved up 1.71 percent to close at 3,827.37 points.

The US markets closed higher helped by gains in bluechip technology stocks like Google.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 1.04 percent to close at 11,062.78 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.57 percent at 1,176.19 points.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.78 percent to 2,468.77 points.