By Porisma P. Gogoi
Mumbai, Feb 24 (IANS) After three weeks of consecutive losses, the key Indian equity indices bounced back from their lows to close this week with humble gains on value buying by investors.

Market observers said futures and options (F&O) expiry infused volatility in the domestic markets, amid global cues and a slew of domestic developments like the $1.8 billion fraud reported by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and a weakening rupee due to the continuous outflow of foreign funds.

However, losses were trimmed as bargain-hunting by investors on the last trading day of the week lifted the benchmark indices.

On a weekly basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) edged higher by 131.39 points or 0.39 per cent to close at 34,142.15 points.

The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 10,491.05 points — up 38.75 points or 0.37 per cent from its previous week’s close.

“The week gone by saw the Nifty bouncing back from a low of 10,302 to finally end with a modest gain. This week’s gains came after three weeks of losses,” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

According to D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, markets across the globe fluctuated wildly — highlighting the market’s fragility — as investors continued to assess the quickening pace of economic growth and the prospects of the US Federal Reserve’s tightening efforts.

“Back home, the sentiment of market participants have been dented by factors such as surging US bond yields, a multi-crore fraud in India’s second-largest public sector lender PNB and the return of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equities, which put a break on the record-setting market rally,” he added.

During the eight trading sessions following the detection of a $1.8 billion fraud in one of the branches of the PNB, the bank’s shares on the BSE have plunged almost 30 per cent to Rs 113.40 per share.

Gitanjali Gems, the other listed entity involved in the fraud case, also witnessed an eight-day fall in its shares, nosediving 60.54 per cent to Rs 24.80 per share.

“The consolidation in the domestic market continued due to the NPA (non-performing assets) issue in public-sector banks, trade deficit, conflict between NSE and SGX, rise in bond yield and depreciation in rupee due to selling by FIIs (foreign institutional investors),” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

On the currency front, the rupee weakened by 51-52 paise to close at 64.73 against the US dollar from last week’s close of 64.21-22.

Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs sold-off scrips worth Rs 5,781.98 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased scrips worth Rs 5,972.69 crore during the week.

Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors off-loaded equities worth Rs 3,054.94 crore, or $468.06 million, during February 20-23.

Sectorwise, Jasani said: “The top sectoral gainers were IT, metal and Bank Nifty indices. The top losers were auto, realty and pharma indices.”

The top weekly Sensex gainers were: Tata Consultancy Services (up 4.76 per cent at Rs 3,076.90); Yes Bank (up 3.75 per cent at Rs 323.60); Infosys (up 2.74 per cent at Rs 1,155.65); Kotak Bank (up 2.67 per cent at Rs 1,079.85); and Coal India (up 2.49 per cent at Rs 310.55).

The losers were: Bajaj Auto (down 3.70 per cent at Rs 2,988); Asian Paints (down 3.65 per cent at Rs 1,101.90); Mahindra and Mahindra (down 3.29 per cent at Rs 719.30); Tata Motors (down 2.73 per cent at Rs 360.45); and Tata Motors (DVR) (down 2.32 per cent at Rs 203.85).

(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at [email protected])

–IANS
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