Weekly report: Markets end sideways

The markets ended virtually unchanged on a week-on-week basis. The barometer Sensex closed the week lower by 52 points or 0.3% at 17064 compared to the previous week's close of 17117, and the Nifty lost 16.15 points or 0.3% to end at 5119 from 5135 in the previous week.

There was a lot of activity below the surface though. The week began on a dismal note, with the Sensex losing 336 points on Monday and following it up with a 163-point loss on the subsequent trading day. As usual, it was the Wall Street effect at work as the Dow had tumbled as much as 323 points on the previous Friday due to disappointing payroll data in the US. But with the next three days turning out well, the bourses managed to reverse almost all the losses incurred in the early part of the week.

Meanwhile, the food inflation rose 16.74% in the year to May 29, while the fuel price index climbed 14.23%, according to government data. The pace of increase in food prices accelerated from the previous week's annual rise of 16.55% and fuel price inflation quickened from the previous week's 14.14%.

And the industrial output rose much faster than expected at 17.4% in April 2010 from a year earlier. Manufacturing, which constitutes around 80 per cent of the index of industrial production (IIP), grew 19.4% in April against 0.4% a year ago. Within manufacturing, capital goods production rose by 72.8% in April against a contraction of 5.9% a year ago. The other two sectors--mining and electricity--expanded by 11.4% and 6% in April against 3.4% and 6.7% respectively in the same period last year.

The major losers on the Sensex were DLF (weakened by 6.8% at RS 262), Hindalco (shed 5.6% at Rs 139), Infosys (lost 3.5% at Rs 2633) and ITC (down 3.3% at Rs 280). Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Sterlite lost between 2% and 3% each.

On the other hand, Cipla led the winners list on the BSE with gains of 3.7% at Rs 337. M&M strengthened by 3.2% at Rs 604 and HDFC Bank gained 2.9% at Rs 1943. And index heavyweight RIL added 1.4% at Rs 1046.

The major sectoral losers were IT and metals. In the IT space, HCL Tech weakened by 4.6% at Rs 368 and Infosys lost 3.5% at Rs 2633. Among the other tech heavyweigts, Wipro shed 1.2% at Rs 655 and TCS lost 0.8% at Rs 758. The major losers in the metals space were NMDC (lost 6.5% at Rs 256), Hindalco (weakened by 5.6% at Rs 139) and Sesa Goa (shed 4.3% at Rs 353). Among the other major losers, Tata Steel lost 2.5% at Rs 472 and Sail lost 1.8% at Rs 197.

On the other hand, the auto and pharma indices emerged as the clear winners on a week-on-week basis. In the auto space, Bajaj Auto strengthened by 5% at Rs 2294, M&M gained 3.2% at Rs 604 and Maruti added 1.9% at Rs 1356. And the pharma space saw the likes of Pfizer gaining by 6.3% at Rs 1122, Dr Reddy's strengthening by 4.2% at Rs 1463 and Cipla adding 3.7% at Rs 337.

The BSE mid-cap index ended flat, with a negative basis, at 6884, compared with the previous week's close of 6890, a loss of five points or 0.08%. And the small-cap index lost two points or 0.03% from 8640 to 8637. In the mid-cap space, Rajesh Exports weakened by 12% at Rs 77, Whirlpool shed 7% at Rs 241 and JM Financial lost 6.9% at Rs 35. And in the smallcap space, Kanani Industries slid by 22% at Rs 220, while Vikas lost 13% at Rs 20 and Godawari Power shed 9% at Rs 200.