Weekly: Markets post second straight fall on weak Rupee

On wekly baisis, the 30 share index, Sensex fell 251.30 points or 1.29% at 19,178

Markets witnessed sharp fall during the week on account of depreciating rupee, which hit record low. Indices crashed 1.2% week-over-week. Nifty crumbled below the 5800 while Sensex plunged below 19000 levels as rupee touched 58.98 against the dollar. However, on Friday the rupee recovered from an all time low, thus halting the downward slide in equity markets.

For the next week, the focus would be on important events like RBI Policy (Jun 17); US FOMC Announcement (Jun 19) and US Jobless Claims data (Jun 20).

The 30 share index, Sensex fell 251.30 points or 1.29% at 19,178. The mid and small-caps dipped 3.24% and 3.18% respectively.  Meanwhile, FIIs turned net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,575 cr during the last 5 trading sessions.

On sectoral front, BSE Consumer Durables Metal and Realty were the main losers during the week.

Jindal Steel fell by over 13% as the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case related to allocation of coal blocks against the company and its owner, Naveen Jindal.

BHEL, Coal India, Sterlite, Tata Power, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel were other losers during the week.

On Monday, markets opened higher tracking global cues. Rally gathered strength during late noon trades post Nikkei marking its biggest single day gain since March 2011. However, markets pared gains to end flat at 19,441.

On Tuesday, selling pressure intensified post Indices opening weak with continuous depreciation in rupee value dampening the sentiments. Auto stocks came under pressure following car sales data, which declined for a record seventh consecutive month in May. Sensex plunged 298 pts to end at 19143.

On Wednesday, markets made a cautious start. Titan was hammered amid concerns that restrictions put by RBI on gold imports will hit business prospects. Meanwhile, Rupee depreciated to 58.20/$. However, lower than expected Apr IIP nos, which came in at 2% (later revised to 2.3%), spooked the market sentiments. Metals, Auto and FMCG stocks dragged the Indices lower.

On Thursday, Indices made a gap-down opening tracing weak global cues. Apollo Tyres crashed following its acquisition of Cooper Tires, raising debt concerns while Sun Pharma tumbled on the co settling Protonix patent infringement battle with Pfizer and Takeda for $550 mn. Market sentiment remained subdued despite FM's assurance of more reforms to bring in FDI and spur investment. Sensex plunged 214 pts to close at 18827.

On Friday, markets opened higher tracking firm global cues with both the Indices jumping nearly a percent each. Re recovered on Friday to open at 57.75/$. Indices jumped following May WPI Inflation data, which eased to 4.7%, it's lowest in 3 yrs, with positive opening of Europe adding impetus to the rally. Index heavyweight shares like RIL, SBI, ICICI Bank and L&T pushed the Indices upwards. Sensex surged 351 pts to close at 19178.