Markets at a glance

The prime minister’s assuring words about the robust economic growth and a firm close of European and Asian indices helped consolidate gains in a truncated week on account of Muharram and New Year. The BSE Sensex rose 104 points or 0.6 per cent to 17,465, while the Nifty rose 23 points or 0.4 per cent to 5,201 during the week.

However, the mid caps and small caps outperformed the broader indices. The Mid-cap index rose 1.2 per cent and the Small-cap index rose 3 per cent. The Sensex delivered returns of 81 per cent in the calendar year 2009 with foreign funds pumping around Rs 83,000 crore in the same period.

Markets this week

Global cues like the pace of economic recovery and a winding up of stimulus plans could decide the fate of the markets in the New Year. In the near-term, stock and sector-specific activity could dominate trade on the domestic bourses with the third quarter December results set to trickle in the next fortnight.

The result season kick-starts on January 12, 2010, with Infosys and Bajaj Auto releasing their results. Attention could also shift to auto, cement and steel stocks as companies would be releasing their sales data for December. From today, NSE and BSE open for trading at 9 AM.

 

Stock to watch
RELIGARE ENTERPRISES
Last week's close (Rs) 409.95 Prev. week's close (Rs) 413.58 Week's high (Rs) 427.63 Week's low (Rs) 407.75 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 7.03 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 6.19 Number of up/down move 2/1

Shares of Religare Enterprises could be in action this week as the company announced plans to raise Rs 1,850 crore through a 2:3 rights issue. Each share is priced at Rs 355, a discount of 14 per cent to the current market price. While details about fund utilisation have not been spelled out, it is likely to be used in funding its life insurance as well as health insurance businesses.

The company is planning to launch its first three health insurance products in the current quarter. It is beefing up operations of emerging markets investment banking segment and trading divisions. The stock gained a quarter of a percent to settle at Rs 411 on Thursday.