Weekly review: Markets get over the 'D' scare

The markets after a strong start to the week, danced to the 'D'-word  tune in the latter half of the week as derivatives unwinding coupled with the Dubai debt scare saw the index tumble sharply.

The Sensex touched a fresh monthly high of 17,290, up 268 points from the previous close in mid-week. However, heavy selling in the last two trading days of the week saw the index tumble to a low of 16,210 - down 1,080 points from the week's high.

Break of crucial technical levels on Thursday, saw significant unwinding of long positions on the derivatives expiry day. The next day markets opened amid global sell-off after Dubai government announced that two of its biggest realty firms - Dubai World and Nakheel - need to restructure debt. Dubai World said that it had to restructure debt worth $59 billion, out of a total of $80 billion. The company was affected by global credit crunch and recession.

Banking and realty stocks took a severe beating in Friday morning trades. They, however, bounced back smartly on hopes of minimal damage from the Dubai debt blow.

The Sensex finally ended the week at 16,632, down 2.3% (390 points). The NSE Nifty moved in a range of 331 points, and settled with a loss of 111 points at 4,942.

Auto and cement stocks were the gainers, while realty, banking and IT stocks ended with significant losses.

Hero Honda surged nearly 6% to Rs 1,746. ACC, Hindustan Unilever, Grasim, Sun Pharma and Maruti were the other major gainers.

On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates slumped 8% to Rs 215. DLF tumbled 6.5% to Rs 351, and Reliance Infrastructure shed 5.5% at Rs 1,039. ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Reliance Communications, SBI, Wipro, NTPC, Sterlite, TCS and Larsen & Toubro dropped 3-5% each.