BOMBAY, 27 October — The Indian stock markets this week, displayed caution as a mixed trend of quarterly results announced by various companies has emerged. It was seen that heavyweights accounted significantly for the weakness in the markets amid fears that these companies may post poor July-September quarter results on account of the inadequate rainfall in several parts of the country this monsoon. Consequently, the markets lost points on all the five days.
On Monday profit-taking at all higher levels pulled the indices down. The BSE ended the day with a loss of 11.75 points at 2,998.01.
Public sector undertakings (PSUs) continued to fall as the uncertainty over disinvestment continued. Infosys and Satyam Computer also slipped after a steady opening.
On the other hand, VSNL was up when it announced results for Q2 which were not as bad as expected. Indo Gulf Corporation also ended up higher.
The markets had a bad day on Tuesday. The stocks dropped badly , led by a fall in tech scrips. The BSE lost 32.04 points to end the day at 2,965.97.
The fall was led by HCL Technologies which posted disappointing quarterly results.
HDFC swam against the tide by notching up smart gains. Looks like the market has finally woken up to the news of its 1:1 bonus and the decision to buy-back around 5% of its equity.
Dr Reddy’s Labs was also a smart gainer of the day after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its new drug application submitted for an iodipine maleate.
The markets continued on their losing spree on Wednesday too, despite the quarterly results of Satyam Computer, being in line with expectations.
The BSE settled with a loss of 17.01 points at 2,948.96.
For the fourth straight session, on Thursday also, the market ended the day in the negative.
The BSE ended down 1.39 percent at 2,908.05 points, the lowest close since Oct. 10 last year.
The fall was led by Hindustan Lever and Reliance Industries.
And on Friday, the BSE declined to a new 52-week low of 2,855.90 during the day and ended the day at 2,875.53, notching a loss of 32.52 points. Selling pressure was seen almost across the board, with operators and institutional investors selling relentlessly with no buying coming from anywhere.
For the coming week, the sentiment in the market continues to remain very bearish and the Sensex is expected to remain subdued.
Gold was at Rs.5,150/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.7,750/- per Kg.
US dollar vis-a-vis Indian rupee was at Rs. 48.36, pound sterling at Rs.74.96, euro at Rs. 47.22, UAE dirham at Rs. 13.15, Kuwait dinar at Rs.161.73, Bahrain dinar at Rs.128.14, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.88, Qatar riyal at Rs.13.27 and Oman riyal at Rs. 125.48.
