Sensex edges up but ends lower for second consecutive week

A benchmark index for Indian markets Friday closed lacklustre amid volatility and ended the week in the red. Realty stocks were the biggest losers amid a gloomy environment after ONGC’s auction the day before failed to evince a good response.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 17,661.39 points and closed at 17,636.8 points, 52.83 points or 0.3 percent up from its previous close at 17,583.97 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed moderately higher at 5,359.35 points, up 19.6 points or 0.37 percent from its previous close.

For the week, the Sensex shed 1.6 percent, while the Nifty lost 1.28 percent.

ONGC’s auction for five percent of the government’s stake in it met a muted response Thursday and was subscribed 98 percent only after state-run Life Insurance Corp of India intervened.

Broader markets closed on a flat note with the BSE 500 index ending 0.18 percent higher. The BSE midcap index closed 0.12 percent down while the BSE small cap index slipped 0.09 percent.

The gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank, up 2.08 percent at Rs.902.75; L&T, up 1.66 percent at Rs.1,299.25; SBI, up 1.17 percent at Rs.2,245.70 and HDFC Bank, up 0.81 percent at Rs.518.30.

Major losers included DLF, down 5.03 percent at Rs.203.85; ONGC, down 2.22 percent at Rs.281.45; Bajaj Auto, down 1.56 percent at Rs.1,749.35 and Coal India, down 0.82 percent at Rs.330.70.

The market breadth was mixed, with 1,411 stocks advancing, 1,485 declining and 127 remaining unchanged.

Overseas funds, the primary catalyst for the dramatic rise in Indian equities in 2012, bought stocks worth $56.14 million Friday, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have put in more than $7.3 billion since the start of the year, having bought equities worth $2.03 billion in January and over $5 billion in February. The two trading days so far this month (March) have seen $189.05 million coming in from FIIs.

Asian markets moved up on news that European ministers had agreed to the measures laid out by Greece for getting a second bailout package for the debt-ridden country.

The Japanese Nikkei rose 0.72 percent to end at 9,777.03 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.81 percent up at 21,562.26 points.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite index closed 1.43 percent higher at 2,460.69 points.

European markets were trading quiet.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.18 percent lower at 5,920.36 points. The German DAX was trading 0.11 percent down at 6,934.01 points.

The French CAC 40 was similarly flat at 3,502.93 points.