Market extends gains, ends marginally up on GST booster

The benchmark BSE Sensex reclaimed the 28K-level, though ending the week marginally up by 26.49 points to 28,078.35, while broader Nifty gained 44.65 to finish at 8,683.15. The week saw a dawn of new era as far as Indian stock market is concerned as the much awaited GST bill passage has been approved by the Parliament in the midst of equities vaguely following rest all other market determinants including a four months high in manufacturing (PMI)s, fastest growth in core Infrastructure, sustained FII inflows and good monsoons.

Although shares also witnessed volatility and hectic profit-booking due to caution as well as prudence following approval of GST Bill with investors digesting its overall impact including inflationary concerns. However, optimism came in the form of Bank of England decision to cut its key rates to 0.25% coupled with a larger than expected surprise stimulus package bolstered the sentiments during weekend trade leading to hectic value-buying as well as short-covering taking the index to biggest single- session gain since July 11.

The Sensex opened flat 28,083.08 and hovered between 28,284.85 and 27,627.97 before closing the week at 28,078.35, showing a slight gain of 26.49 or 0.09%. The NSE 50-share Nifty also ended the week at 8,683.15 after moving between 8,711.30 and 8,518.15, showing a gain of 44.65 or 0.52%. Buying was led by Metal, Auto, PSUs, Oil&Gas, IT, Teck, Realty followed by shares of mid cap companies. While, Capital goods, Consumer Durables, FMCG, Power, Banking, and shares of Small Cap witnessed profit-booking.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares whopping to Rs 2,516.86 crore during the week as per SEBI's record including the provisional figure of August 5. In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up by 0.30%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index fell by 0.03%, under performing the Sensex. Among the S&P, BSE sector and industry indices, metal rose by 3.68%, followed by auto 2.73%, oil & gas 1.24%, IT 0.93%, teck 0.78%, realty 0.68% and healthcare 0.05%,respectively while capital goods dropped 2.09% followed by consumer durables 1.44%, FMCG 0.79%, power 0.67% and bankex 0.16%. In the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks gained and 9 of them declined during the week.

Major gainer Tata Steel (up 7.37%) edged higher from the Sensex pack. Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) jumped 7.11%. The company announced that its total sales rose 9.13% to 5.32 lakh units in July 2016 over July 2015. The company announced the monthly sales volume data after market hours on Monday, 1 August 2016. It was followed by Bajaj Auto 5.49%, Maruti 4.06%, Axis Bank 3.55%, ONGC 2.66%, Tata Motors 2.65%, Asian Paints 2.53% and Dr Reddy 2.20%.

However, Bank stocks nudged higher. ICICI Bank declined by 6.37%. The bank's net profit fell 24.99% to Rs 2232.35 crore on 6.06% increase in total income to Rs 16759.51 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 29 July 2016. Topping the losers list along was Lupin 3.80%, L&T 2.91%, HDFC 2.47%, Infy 0.61%, Gail 0.60% and ITC 0.40%

The total turnover during the week at BSE and NSE fell to Rs 17,925.47 crore and Rs 1,08,357.42 crore, respectively, as against last weekend's level of Rs 19,207.06 crore and Rs 1,22,169.73 crore.

Bullion: Gold finished slightly lower in a range bound trade at the domestic bullion market here as buyers turned cautious after the recent rally amid subdued demand from stockists and retailers at higher levels. After a strong start to trade, gold which largely moved in a narrow range in the absence of follow-up buying at existing levels turned negative and then flat. However, silver rebounded to reclaim the key Rs 48,000 mark on heavy speculative offtake coupled with rising industrial demand and finally end stable towards the fag end.

On the global front, Gold futures notched a hefty loss tumbling the most in about two and a half months following a stronger- than-expected nonfarm-payrolls report that might provide the Federal Reserve evidence to lift benchmark interest rates sooner than later. Higher rates can boost the value of the dollar and undercut the appeal of commodities priced in the currency, making them more expensive for buyers using other monetary units. A rate hike also diminishes the appeal of owning metals.

Friday's sharp fall turned a modest weekly gain for gold into a roughly 1% weekly decline, meanwhile, silver too booked a 2.6% weekly loss.

In New York Comex trade, gold for December delivery plunged to end at US $1,344.40 an ounce against last weekend's finish of US $1,357.50, while September silver contract declined to US $19.817 an ounce from US $20.347 earlier.

On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) opened higher at Rs 31,100 per 10 grams as against last Friday's closing value of Rs 30,960 and swung between Rs 31,095 and Rs 31,450 before settling at Rs 30,915, showing a modest loss of 45 per 10 grams, or 0.14% Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also resumed on a positive note at Rs 31,250 per 10 grams as against last weekend level of Rs 31,110 and traded in a range of Rs 31,245 and Rs 31,600 before ending at Rs 31,055, revealing a loss of 55 per 10 grams, or 0.17%.

Silver ready (.999 fineness), however, commenced on a strong footing at Rs 48,215 against preceding weekend's close of Rs 47,470 and later surged further to Rs 48,730 before ending at last Friday's level of Rs 47,470.