Stock Market Weekly Recap: SENSEX, NIFTY rebound to extend gains for 4th week; NIFTY IT hits lifetime high

• Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Infosys and Wipro were major gainers this week.
• NIFTY IT index hit a lifetime high of 46,088.90 on Friday, rising more than 2.5% this week.
• Religare Enterprises gained 10% after RBI nod to Burman family to buy an additional stake.

It was a roller coaster ride for markets this week, marked by a sharp bounce back by benchmark indices in the last session amid volatility. Here’s a wrap of the week’s key developments in stock markets.

The key indices moved in a range this week before a sharp rebound on Friday. The bounce back helped SENSEX and NIFTY close in the green for the fourth straight week.

SENSEX advanced 623.07 points, or 0.76%, while NIFTY gained 90.5 points, or 0.36%, on a weekly basis.

This week, investors turned cautious ahead of the policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Political uncertainty in the Middle East as rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad regime after 13 years of civil war weighed on investor sentiment, but benign US inflation data raising rate cut hopes provided some support.

Indian stock markets also saw a tug-of-war between FIIs and domestic investors. While FIIs cashed in every rise in stock markets, domestic investors resorted to buying on dips, keeping the market in a range. A strengthening dollar after the US elections has made selling in Indian equities profitable for FIIs amid high valuation concerns.

After last week’s rally, stock markets caught in a range bound trade. Benchmark indices closed in the red on Monday with NIFTY slipping by 58 points to settle at 24,619 while SENSEX dropping 200 points to end at 81,508.46.

SENSEX closed flat while NIFTY settled just above 24,600 after moving in a narrow range amid bouts of buying and selling.

Stock markets saw some momentum on Wednesday on the return of FIIs as net buyers and strength in largecaps mainly banking and IT shares. SENSEX edged up to 81,526.14 while NIFTY snapped the three-day losses and closed up 31 points at 24,641.80.

The recovery was, however, short lived as FIIs resorted to selling on Thursday, dragging the indices down. FIIs exited shares worth ₹3,560 crore on net basis on Thursday. Investors were also cautious ahead of the domestic inflation and industrial production data. NIFTY shed 93 points to close at 24,548.70 while SENSEX dropped 236 points to 81,289.96.

Stock markets saw wild swings on Friday. NIFTY opened lower, fell to a low of 24,180.80 in late morning deals, but recovered sharply in the second half on bargain hunting. FII buying lifted the markets, with SENSEX and NIFTY closing higher by 1%.

SENSEX closed at 82,133.12, up by 843.16 points, or 1.04%. NIFTY ended at 24,768.30, up by 219.60 points, or 0.89%.

Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Infosys and Wipro among major gainers

Among sectoral indices, Media, FMCG & PSU Bank shares lead losers while IT bucked the trend by gaining 2.5%.

IT shares hit year high levels on strengthening dollar, rate cut hopes

IT shares Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra traded at fresh 52-week high levels this week amid hopes of rate cut by the US Federal Reserve next week.

Infosys, HCL Tech and LTIM hit 52-week highs on Friday while Wipro and Tech Mahindra scaled year high levels on Thursday.

The rally in IT stocks has been driven by expectations of a rate cut by the US Fed next week. Lower interest rates would encourage spending by corporations in the US which is a major revenue source for Indian IT players.

The NIFTY IT index hit a lifetime high of 46,088.90 on Friday and gained over 2.5% this week.

Religare shares hit 52-week high after RBI nod to Burman family

Religare Enterprises Ltd shares surged to year-high levels this week after the RBI allowed the Burman family to go ahead with an open offer to buy an additional 26% stake in the company.

Religare shares surged to hit a 52-week high of ₹307.30 apiece on the NSE on Friday, taking its total gains this week to more than 10%. Burmans through affiliates MB Finmart, VIC Enterprises, Puran Associates, and Milky Investment & Trading Company own a 25.12% holding in Religare.

Metal stocks decline

Metal shares tank up to 11% as investors await China stimulus details

What lies ahead?

The return of FIIs boosted market sentiment off-late this week. Investors will focus on policy decisions by the US Fed, Bank of England and Bank of Japan for further direction. The US GDP data is also expected to influence trading sentiment. Bottom fishing strategy is likely to continue next week.