Stocks: The BSE benchmark Sensex extended its fall for second straight week by slumping 294.75 points and once again slipping below the psychological 28K, while the broader Nifty lost 94.35 points to fall below the crucial 8,600-level.
Bears took control over bulls in a lopsided trading week following appointment of new RBI chief Urjit Patel which triggered wariness and set-in-motion the debate over the topic of domestic rate-cut and inflation.
However, sentiments were dominated by global caution on eagerly awaited US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speech at the Kansas City Fed's annual Monetary Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which could provide hints about the timing of the next rate hike, in view of recent set of hawkish tone from senior Fed officials.
Absence of any major trigger and worries over higher US interest rates could pull-out massive money from emerging markets in the backdrop-off domestic derivative expiry for August month ruled overall weak trading sentiment for the week.
For the week, the Sensex opened flat 28,088.07 and hovered between a high of 28,154.21 and a low of 27,696.99 before ending at 27,782.25, showing a loss of 294.75 points, or 1.05 per cent. The market had lost 370.15 points during two weeks.
While, the Nifty fell by 94.35 points, or 1.09 per cent to 8,572.55 after moving between a high of 8,684.85 and a low of 8,547.55. It had declined nearly 100 points in two weeks.
Selling was witnessed in most of the sectors, led by Capital Goods, Metals, Realty, Power, PSU, IT, Banks, Teck, HealthCare, Auto followed by secondline shares of midcap companies. While, Consumer Durable, Oil&Gas, FMCG supported by broader smallcap shares saw some buying interest.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and
foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 710.96 crores during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of August 26.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) will be given direct access to NDS-OM to ease the process of investment in debt securities. The RBI said it has also been decided to provide FPIs facility to trade directly in corporate bonds.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 35.02 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 13,000.15. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 27.66 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at 12,487.12, outperforming the Sensex.
Among the S&P, BSE sector and industry indices, Capital Goods dropped by 2.99 per cent, followed by Metal 2.70 per cent, Realty 1.96 per cent, Power 1.88 per cent, IT 1.39 per cent, Bankex 1.30 per cent, Teck 1.12 per cent, Health Care 0.90 per cent and Auto 0.85 per cent.
However, Consumer Durables rose by 0.82 per cent, Oil& Gas by 0.54 pct and FMCG by 0.08 pct.
In the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 stocks fell while 8 of them rose during the week.
IT major Wipro was the biggest Sensex loser last week. It fell 5.89 per cent to Rs 489.95. It was followed by Tata Steel 5.72 percent, Adani Ports 5.66 per cent, NTPC 5.25 per cent, SBI 4.56 per cent, L&T 4.20 per cent, Lupin 3.86 per cent, ICICI Bank 3.44 per cent, Sun Pharma 3.41 per cent and TCS 2.87 per cent.
Among gainers, GAIL (India) rose 4.26 per cent to Rs 379.20 after the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy to generate power with clean and reliable energy. The announcement was made on Monday, 22 August 2016. It was followed by Cipla 2.24 per cent, Reliance 1.27 per cent, Asian Paints 1.17 per cent, ITC 1.08 per cent and HDFC Bank 1.04 per cent.
The total turnover during the week at BSE and NSE rose to Rs 15,146.78 crore and Rs 97,822.29 crore, respectively, as against last weekend's level of Rs 12,796.47 crore and Rs 80,356.94 crore.
Bullion: Riding on a firm trend overseas and increased
buying by jewellers at domestic market, gold prices extended gains for the second straight week at the bullion market during the week.
Traders said sentiment remained firm on the back of positive global cues as political uncertainty led investors to shun riskier assets in favour of bullion, increased buying by local jewellers, mainly attributed to the rise in the precious metal's prices.
The yellow-metal gained 2.76 per cent or Rs 780, while, white-metal silver too gained 4.49 per cent or Rs 1,750 in two-weeks.
Elsewhere, silver also rebounded sharply to close above the significant Rs 40,000 mark due to heavy speculative buying coupled with higher industrial demand.
In worldwide trade, Gold closed at its highest level of the month, lifting prices for a third week in a row as a fresh round of geopolitical jitters offset expectations for higher US interest rates, which would otherwise be bearish for gold prices.
Investors were watching North Korea, this weekend's Group of Seven meeting, the coming UK elections, and developments surrounding the Trump administration-all helping to boost gold's appeal as a hedge against uncertainty.
Gold is used as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.
Gold posted a gain of about 1.2 per cent for the week, they're third weekly advance in a row, while silver was up around 3.1 per cent for the week.
