The Sensex and Nifty regained their position gaining 178.30 points and 59.15 points and ended the week at 23,154.30 points and 7,029.75 points respectively on Friday post the Economic Survey ahead of the Union Budget announcement. The markets have lost close to 2.3% during the week.
Stocks like State Bank of India (SBI), NTPC, Bharat Heavy Electricals, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto plunged in the range of 5%-9%, while Hindustan Unilever and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were the top gainers for the week gaining 1%-3% during the week. The BSE Bankex, Realty and Auto index lost 3.8%, 2.7% and 3.7% respectively this week.
Several public sector banks released a list of willful defaulters during the week. Punjab National Bank (PNB) disclosed that nearly 904 corporates owed the bank close to R10,870 crore, while state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) said nearly R11,700 crore was locked as bad loans with its willful defaulters.
The week began with an announcement on Monday of new inclusions and exits of members in the Nifty which will come into effect from April 1. Aurobindo Pharma, Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors DVR (Differential Voting Rights) will be added to the index, while Cairn India, PNB and Vedanta are to be excluded from the 50-scrip index. With the inclusion of an additional member, Nifty will have 51 securities in all.
Post the announcement of the Railway Budget on Thursday, stocks of key rail wagon makers like Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers, Titagarh Wagons and Texmaco Rail Engineering fell. The companies which were expected to be major beneficiaries of railway’s 21% increased allotment towards capital expenditure (capex), tumbled further post the announcement.
On Friday, the Economic Survey managed to pull up the indices by pegging GDP growth at 7-7.75% for the next financial year. However, during the current financial year, the Indian equity market has remained subdued. The Sensex and Nifty declined 8.5%, mainly on account of turmoil in global equity markets.
The foreign portfolio investors continued to remain sellers throughout the week as they liquidated $153.8 million worth equities while domestic investors on the other hand purchased close to Rs 3,050 crore worth equities. The Indian rupee stood at 68.63 against the US dollar at the end of the week.
