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How Sensex, Nifty Fared In Holiday-Shortened Week

Stock Markets Weekly Update: The S&P BSE Sensex index lost 87.62 points - or 0.21% - for the week
Stock Markets Weekly Update: The S&P BSE Sensex index lost 87.62 points - or 0.21% - for the week

After two straight weekly gains, domestic stock markets tuned negative for the week on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex index lost a total 87.62 points - or 0.21 per cent - for the week and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark shed 32.6 points (0.27 per cent), to settle at 41,170.12 and 12,080.85 respectively, in the holiday-shortened week in which the gauges declined on three out of four sessions. The financial markets remained shut on Friday for Mahashivratri. The forex markets had also assumed a holiday on Wednesday on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti. (Also Read: S&P BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty Resume Decline After A Day's Breather)

Five out of the 11 sectoral gauges on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) suffered losses for the week, with the Nifty PSU Bank (down 1.91 per cent), Auto (1.59 per cent) and Realty (1.31 per cent) indices being the worst hit. 

How NSE Sectors Fared This Week

NSE Index Weekly Change
Nifty Media +2.14%
Nifty Pharma +0.39%
Nifty Bank +0.35%
Nifty Financial Services +0.23%
Nifty Private Bank +0.14%
Nifty IT +0.04%
Nifty Fast Moving Consumer Goods -0.03%
Nifty Metal -0.05%
Nifty Realty -1.31%
Nifty Auto -1.59%
Nifty PSU Bank -1.91%
(Source: NSE data)

Nifty Gainers Vs Losers

NSE Index Weekly Change
Zee Entertainment +9.13%
Power Grid +3.12%
SBI +2.66%
Coal India +2.49%
Titan +2.26%
Bajaj Finance +2.22%
Tata Steel +2.05%
Infosys +1.32%
Nestle +1.24%
Axis Bank +1.22%
Maruti Suzuki -2.51%
JSW Steel -2.54%
GAIL -2.57%
Bajaj Auto -2.78%
Sun Pharma -3.29%
Bharti Airtel -3.61%
Bharti Infratel -4.31%
Hero MotoCorp -4.94%
Tata Motors -6.12%
Yes Bank -8.61%
(Source: NSE data)

Twenty nine out of the Nifty basket of 50 shares registered a weekly fall. Top percentage laggards on the 50-scrip index were Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Infratel and Bharti Airtel, finishing the week with losses of between 3.61 per cent and 8.61 per cent.

On the other hand, Zee Entertainment, Power Grid, SBI, Coal India and Titan, rising between 2.26 per cent and 9.13 per cent, were the top weekly gainers.

Global cues amid concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on world economy kept the domestic markets under pressure during the week, say analysts.

"Market during the week whipsawed after initial weakness due to the coronavirus outbreak. But it later bounced back at the close of the week keeping aside all fears of a slowdown on a global health emergency front," said Jimeet Modi, founder and CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote.

"It is heard that China is slowly reducing curbs and hopefully the economy is likely to come back to normalcy. But nonetheless risk does remain."

Telecom stocks remained in focus, as service providers including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea scrambled to clear government dues following notices from the telecom department asking them to clear dues immediately or face "necessary action".

Last week, the government ordered mobile carriers including Vodafone Idea to immediately pay thousands of crores of rupees in dues after the Supreme Court threatened the companies and officials with contempt proceedings for failing to implement an earlier ruling.

Analysts covering the country's telecoms sector say Vodafone Idea is the most fragile of its three major wireless carriers and if it shuts shop, the market would shape up as a duopoly of rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries' Jio.

"Telecom is one space where no other institutional investor has increased the stake but mutual funds have. Going ahead, telecoms may take a long time to deliver returns given the burden of huge debt, spectrum payments along with mandatory investment in 5G," said Mr Modi of SAMCO Securities.

Going forward, analysts will closely monitor official macroeconomic numbers for any sign of revival in the economy which is staring at its worst pace of expansion in more than 11 years. 

The government will release data on GDP or gross domestic product expansion for the October-December period by the end of next week.