Weekly roundup: Record time for stock markets

It was a phenomenal week for equity markets as benchmark indices rose over 3% to touch record highs. The Sensex and the Nifty rose 3.36% and 3.20%, respectively, ending the week at their all-time closing highs of 27,865.83 and 8,322.20, respectively.

Experts say the trend is here to stay and strengthen further in the coming sessions.

The reasons for the rise were fall in oil prices, strong US economic data and the Japanese central bank's decision to ease policy.

Good earnings reported by index heavyweights such as Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Ranbaxy and YES bank, besides buying by foreign institutional investors, or FIIs, supported the trend.

Jayant Manglik, president, retail distribution, Religare Securities, says, "The rally was led by firm global cues and fuelled by strong results from index majors. Besides, the sentiment got a lift after international ratings agency Moody's termed recent measures by the government and the RBI on economic, fiscal and financial fronts as 'credit positive' for the economy."

"For investors, at this stage, selecting a stock is the key, as markets are trading at life-time highs. So, one must be extra cautious and prefer index majors and liquid stocks from the mid-cap space for trading positions. And, most important, one must stay with the trend and avoid contrarian trades."
Vivek Gupta, CMT, director of research, CapitalVia Global Research, says, "If the Nifty remains above its immediate support of 8,200 in the short term, it is expected to continue the bull run and make more new highs in the days to come."

Among sector indices, the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index rose the most (5.5%) during the week. It was followed by S&P BSE Realty (3.12% to 1530.56) and BSE Metal (2.68% to 11628.17).

FIIs were net buyers of shares worth Rs 2,328 crore. But on a monthly basis, they were net sellers of stocks worth Rs 1,171 crore.
Vinay Khattar, associate director and head of research, Edelweiss, says, "From the start of September till mid-October there was some cooling off by FIIs due to risk aversion in global markets. However, with the European central bank starting its asset purchase programme and geopolitical tensions cooling off, we expect FIIs to remain overweight on Indian equities."

In the BSE 100 index, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Cummins India, Ashok Leyland, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan company touched all-time highs during the week.

On Monday, Monsanto, Dabur, Tirumal chemicals, Nitin fire, WockPharma, Tube Investments, Astrazen and Bank of India are slated to announce their second quarter earnings.