Sensex falls below 28k, drops 388 points for the week

Stocks: The curtailed trading week saw the Sensex falling below the psychological 28k-level amid intense volatility, losing 387.54 points, while the broader Nifty going below the key 8,600-level.

The heavily curtailed three session trading week saw the market opening on lacklustre note as sentiment bridled due to holidays and government release of key economic data like IIP, CPI and WPI and keenly watched corporate results, while the key indices started positive and traded choppy later part of week. The stock Exchanges remained closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for "Dussehra" and "Moharrum" during the week.

The initial positiveness shortlived and the index suffered sharp losses during second session trade due to intense volatility and selling pressure impacted by poor Chinese trade data and US rate hike fears as well as subdued August domestic Industrial production (IIP) data. However, easing September 4.31 % CPI and 3.57 WPI inflation along with mixed start of quarterly results somehow failed to cheer the investors sentiment due to weak revenue guidance outlook from IT bellwether Infosys, however, the index did consolidate with minor gains during weekend trade despite incurring weekly losses.

The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 28,144.28 and hovered between 28,216.64 and 27,548.18 before ending the week at 27,673.60, showing a loss of 387.54 points or 1.38 %. The NSE Nifty also dropped by 114.20 points or 1.31 % to end the week at 8,583.40. Selling was led by Realty, Bankex, Power, Auto, Metal, FMCG followed by secondline shares of midcap and smallcap companies.

Buying interest was witnessed in Oil&Gas, IT, Power and Capital Goods sectors. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,276.52 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of October 14.

In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap index lost 123 points or 0.91 % to settle at 13,419.62. The BSE small-cap index fell 45.64 points or 0.35 % to settle at 13,176.76. The fall in both these indices were lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms. Among the S&P, BSE sector and industry indices, realty fell by 2.59 %, followed by bankex 1.97 %, power 1.33 %, auto 1.29 %, metal 0.97 %, FMCG 0.92 %, healthcare 0.52 % and tech 0.36 %.

However, oil and gas rose by 0.80 % followed by IT 0.72 %, capital goods 0.36 % and consumer durables 0.03 %. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 stocks fell and remaining 10 stocks rose during the week. HDFC lost 6.15 %. The company announced that pursuant to the approval of the board of directors of the company at its meetings held previously, the company is contemplating, subject to market conditions, undertaking the fourth issuance of rupee denominated bonds to overseas investors. It was followed by Adani Ports 4.72 percent, Bharti Airtel 4.30 %, HUL 4.14 %, ICICI Bank 3.49 %, Reliance 2.86 %, Bajaj Auto 2.61 %, SBI 2.46 % and Axis Bank 2.38 %.

GAIL (India) rose 3.90 %. GAIL (India) on Monday, announced it has received intimation from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 40 % capital grant (limited to Rs 5,176 crore) of the estimated capital cost of Rs 12,940 crore to GAIL (India) for execution of Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra gas pipeline (JHBDPL) project by 2020. It was followed by ONGC 3.31 %, Cipla 2.96 %, Asian Paints 1.88 % and Infosys 1.46 %. The total turnover during the week on BSE and NSE declined to Rs 9,870.75 crore and Rs 59,232.39 crore, respectively, as against last weekend's level of Rs 19,026.44 crore and Rs 1,05,459.39 crore.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,276.52 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of October 14.

Bullion: Gold continued its losing streak for the third straight week at the domestic bullion market on the back of subdued demand from stockists and investors mainly on the turnaround in international markets. The truncated week saw the market witnessing a narrow-range trade throughout the week amid lack of local buying interest despite festive season, while unwinding of long positions by speculative traders also added downward pressure on gold.

However, silver rebounded from its last two week fall, due to speculative lower-level buying and higher industrial demand. The bullion market remained closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for 'Dussehra' and 'Muharram', respectively. In worldwide trade, gold futures settled lower as the dollar climbed on the back of upbeat US retail sales data, but scored their first weekly gain in three weeks.

Futures had posted decline in each of the last two weeks, with last week's around 5 % drop being the largest of its kind in more than three years. The US retail sales rebounded 0.6 % in September while producer prices also rose broadly to record their biggest year-on-year increase since December 2014. Gold futures ended the week about 0.3 % higher, while silver held on to a nearly 0.4 % gain in the week.

In New York Comex trade, gold for December delivery rose to finish at $ 1,255.50 an ounce as compared to last weekend's close of $ 1,251.90 and silver for December also climbed to settle at $ 17.441 an ounce from $ 17.38. On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) commenced higher at Rs 29,900 per 10 gram as compared to last Friday's close of Rs 29,845, later it gained to Rs 29,960 before drifting back to close at Rs 29,750, revealing a loss of Rs 95 per 10 gram, or 0.32 %.

Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also resumed on a positive note at Rs 30,050 per 10 gram as against last weekend's level of Rs 29,995, later moved-up to Rs 30,110 before ending at Rs 29,900, showing a fall of Rs 95 per 10 gram or 0.32 %. Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened higher at Rs 42,925 per kilo from its last weekend's level of Rs 42,385 and rose to Rs 43,080 before finishing at Rs 42,680, registering a rise of Rs 295 per kilo, or 0.70 %.