Sensex down 3.3 pc on FII pull out

Mumbai: A partial recovery towards the weekend, notwithstanding, the stock markets revealed a 3.3 per cent fall over the week.

The downslide was largely attributed to sustained pull out of equity by the Foreign Institutional Investors.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index (sensex) recovered by 380 points on Friday, ending the week at 10,451.33 from last weekend's close of 10,809.35, still down by 358.02 points in the week to June 3.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty tumbled by 118.35 points to close the week at 3,091.25 from previous weekend's close of 3,209.60.

Reduced participation by retail investors and operators continued to affect the volume of business on the bourses.

The market outlook still seemed to be cautious in the present scenario with more correction could not be ruled out in the light of heavy FII withdrawals from emerging markets.

Friday's bounce, however, was credited to sudden positive activity by FIIs, which heavily covered short positions after their consistent withdrawals in the first four days of week.

Indian markets growing co-relation with global markets are also seen as a major factor that influenced the trend during the week.

The weekend recovery also was prompted by a turn around in world markets and easing international oil prices.

Higher GDP growth of 8.4 per cent in 2005-06 than earlier estimates of 8.1 per cent also had soothing impact on market.

The weekend rally was largely confined to blue chip counters and kept the market breadth negative even as it is expected to inject confidence among retail investors and day traders.

FIIs reported net sales of Rs 1,205 crore in cash segment in the initial four days, an indication of slow down in outflows.

Domestic funds and financial institutions, however, remained sustained net buyers during the week.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index tumbled by another 197.98 points to end the week at 5,383.53 from last weekend's close of 5,581.51.

The BSE-200 Index and the Dollex-200 were quoted sharply down at 1,283.99 and 464.56 at the weekend compared to last weekend's close of 1,334.00 and 484.40 respectively.

The BSE-500 Index dipped further by 180.31 points to finish the week at 4,119.56 from preceding weekend's close of 4,299.87 and the Dollex-30 ended the week sharply lower at 1,864.72 from 1,935.54 at the preceding weekend.

On the NSE, the S&P CNX Defty fell sharply by 95.75 points to close the week at 2,327.90 from last weekend's close of 2,423.65 and the S&P CNX Nifty Junior nose-dived by 160.70 points to conclude the week at 5,719.55 from 5,880.25 at the previous weekend.

During the week, the volume of business on the BSE and the NSE remained low at Rs 16,007 crore and Rs 34,622 crore compared to last week's turnover of Rs 17,757 crore and Rs 34,238 crore respectively.