Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended the week flat amid muted global cues. Market participants overlooked the approval of GST Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The widely-tracked Nikkei purchasing managers’ index (PMI) which inched up to 51.8 points in July against 51.7 in the previous month also failed to support market sentiments. For the week ended August 8, the 30-share index Sensex closed 26.49 points up at 28078.35 against 28051.86 on July 29. NSE Nifty index jumped 44.65 points, or 52 per cent to 8683.15 from 8638.50 during the week. The Friday’s rally helped markets to pare all their losses and post gains for the week. Sensex gained 363.98 points on Friday.

HCL Technologies, Hindalco Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Grasim Industries and Tata Steel gained 8.98 per cent, 7.82 per cent, 7.68 per cent, 7.47 per cent and 7.25 per cent, respectively, and stood among top gainers in the Nifty 50 pack for the week ended August 5. However, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Lupin, Larsen & Toubro and Aurobindo Pharma skid 6.43 per cent, 5.83 per cent, 3.99 per cent and 2.84 per cent in the past five trading sessions.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the BSE Capital Goods index slid the most — 2.09 per cent, it was followed by Consumer Durables (down 1.44 per cent), FMCG (down 0.79 per cent), Power (down 0.67 per cent) and Bankex (down 0.16 per cent). On the other hand, BSE Metal, Auto, Oil & Gas, IT and TECk index gained 3.68 per cent, 2.73 per cent, 1.24 per cent, 0.93 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively.

According to a corporate database Ace Equity, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stood net buyers in equity segment for the week ended August 5 with gross purchases of Rs 21,370.86 crore and gross sales of Rs 19,630.27 crore, leading to a net inflow of Rs 1,740.59 crore. They stood as net sellers in the debt segment with gross purchases of Rs 4,340.62 crore against gross sales of Rs 6,410.31 crore, resulting in a net outflow of Rs 2,069.69 crore. During the week, Indian rupee appreciated by 22 paise to 66.81 on August 5 from 67.03 on July 29.

For the next week, Mustafa Nadeem, chief executive officer, Epic Research said, “In coming week a lot will depend on earnings coupled with economic indicators.” The Reserve Bank of India is likely to hold key rates in the upcoming monetary policy on August 9 (Tuesday).

Raghu Kumar, co-founder, RKSV on the upcoming Monetary policy said, “It is expected that RBI is likely to maintain status quo this time. The RBI governor may keep interest rates intact, citing various factors such as monsoon progress, inflation, oil prices.”