By Porisma P. Gogoi
Mumbai, Nov 18 (IANS) Riding on a sovereign ratings upgrade of the Indian government's bonds by US credit rating agency Moody's and bargain hunting by investors, the key Indian equity indices closed Friday's trade on a higher note.
However, on a week-on-week comparison, the overall sentiment in the markets remained flat on the back of weak domestic macro-data, along with geo-political tensions in the Middle East.
According to market observers, investor sentiments were subdued as higher-than-estimated inflation numbers and a surge in oil prices dented the chances of a rate cut in the December policy meeting of the Reserve Bank of India.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed higher from its previous week's close by 28.24 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 33,342.80 points.
On the other hand, the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 38.15 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close the week's trade at 10,283.60 points.
"Nifty ended with marginal losses this week at 10,283 as a sharp bounce back from the lows of 10,094 helped to erase the losses seen during the early part of the week. It was nevertheless the second consecutive week of losses for the Nifty," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, said: "Domestic market looked nervous on the back of subdued exports, higher inflation and muted second quarter earnings of some companies."
Official data released during the week showed that India's annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices (wholesale price index) rose to 3.59 per cent in October due to an exponential rise in food prices.
In addition, the consumer price index (CPI) inflation for October rose to 3.58 per cent from 3.28 per cent in September.
"However, during the later part of the week, market moved higher as Moody's Investors Service upgraded the Government of India's local and foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed the outlook on the rating to stable from positive. Also, the bargain hunting at lower levels and firm cues from Asian markets supported the bulls," Aggarwal told IANS.
"The speedy pace of recapitalisation process has kept the PSU bank stocks cheerful in the bourses. Even the domestic currency got the strength on the back of Moody's'rating upgrade for Indian sovereign bonds," he added.
On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 15 paise to close at 65.01-02 against the US dollar from its last week's close at 65.16-17.
Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign instituttional investors purchsed stocks worth Rs 2,791.2 crore during the week, while the domestic institutional investors bought scrips worth Rs 2,913.41 crore.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested in equities worth Rs 4,637.75 crore, or $708.59 million, during November 13-17.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Weak macros impacted the market. The hopes of near term rate cut by RBI faded, and volatility heighted due to geopolitical tensions in Middle East."
"Despite significant tax relief from GST council, setbacks like widening of trade deficit, inflationary concerns and likely impact of government fiscal plans due to tax cuts did not support sentiments. Global cues were not helping either amid uncertainty over US tax reform, slow down in Chinese factory output and growing political issues in UK," Nair added.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 3.17 per cent at Rs 1,024.05); Reliance Industries (up 2.97 per cent at Rs 909.70); Maruti Suzuki (up 2.15 per cent at Rs 8,340.70); ICICI Bank (up 2.04 per cent at Rs 325.10); and Mahindra and Mahindra (up 1.67 per cent at Rs 1,416.65).
The losers were: Adani Ports (down 7.19 per cent at Rs 400.75); ONGC (down 6.97 per cent at Rs 177.50); Coal India (down 4.15 per cent at Rs 272.85); Larsen and Toubro (down 3.39 per cent at Rs 1,221.25); and Wipro (down 2.42 per cent at Rs 294.75).
(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in)
Doraiah Chowdary Vundavally is a Software engineer at VTech . He is the news editor of SocialNews.XYZ and Freelance writer-contributes Telugu and English Columns on Films, Politics, and Gossips. He is the primary contributor for South Cinema Section of SocialNews.XYZ. His mission is to help to develop SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgement towards any.
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