Weekly review: Sensex ends flat amidst volatility

The Sensex witnessed a volatile week with important announcements by the government and global cues. The government's decision to auction three slots in the 3G spectrum helped telecom stocks gain.

The government announced the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers on Friday. A strong 10.3% jump in industrial growth raised worries that the central bank may need to hike rates as early as January 2010.

The volatile week saw the Sensex touching a low of 16,943 and a high of 17,351. Finally the benchmark index closed almost flat with a marginal gain of 0.10% at 17,119. The Nifty added 0.16% to 5,117.

Through the week the metal index showed weakness as prices in the London Metal Index dropped last week. The BSE metal index dropped 2.66% this week, followed by healthcare (2.11%) and bankex (1.35%).

PSU companies gained considerably during the week. BHEL added 3% to Rs 2,364. NTPC was also up.

However, telecom stocks dropped on the last day of trade. Bharti Airtel slipped 3.2% to Rs 331 after gaining nearly 7% in one week. Reliance Communications was down 1% at Rs 184.

Banking sector dropped on fears of tightening of monetary policy. ICICI Bank and SBI declined over 1% to Rs 863 and Rs 2,268, respectively. HDFC dipped 1% to Rs 2,693.

"As we enter the holiday season, the markets are likely to be range-bound. However, volumes can be expected to grow gradually," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Equity Head, SMC Global.

Two new listings as well as two IPOs came out this week. Godrej Properties got a strong response while JSW Energy could only garner a tepid feedback from the street. Cox & Kings soared on day one of listing.

"Retailers are not at all convinced as only QIPs are supporting the new listings. Whatever revival has been seen has only been in the primary markets and not in the secondary ones", added Thunuguntla.