Staff Reporter | 19 Jul, 2008
With a smart rally in the last two days of the week, Indian equity markets recovered losses suffered in the early part of the week to end Friday slightly higher than last week's closing.

Compared to last week's Friday closing, the bell-weather Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) ended this week Friday 165.55 points or 1.23 percent higher at 13,635.40 after surging more than 1,000 points between Wednesday and Friday.

The Sensex had shed nearly 900 points during the first three days of trading during the week.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) index, the S&P Nifty too ended the week 43.25 points or 1.06 percent higher at 4,092.25 compared to last week's Friday closing.

Equity markets opened on a weak note Monday due to political uncertainty and inflationary pressures on the domestic front and rising oil prices on the international front. But with oil prices heading southwards during the course of the week and Prime Minister Manmohan singh exuding confidence about winning the impending trust vote in parliament July 22, equity markets reacted positively to wipe out the early losses and end the week slightly higher.

Although the Sensex ended slightly higher, the BSE Mid-Cap index shed 125.95 points or 2.35 percent and fell to 5,239.39.

The BSE Small-Cap index too fell 257.77 points or 3.84 percent to 6,455.89.

According to the market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), equity markets attracted a total of $483.20 million of FII investment during the week.

Ashok Jainani, head of research, Khandwala Securities Limited said,"the government is seeking a vote of confidence in Parliament early next week which would set the direction the market will take next week."

The week started with the BSE Sensex losing 139.34 points or 1.03 percent to close Monday at 13,330.51.

On Tuesday, the Sensex again fell by a whopping 654.32 points or 4.91 percent to close at 12,676.19, hitting its lowest level in more than 15 months.

On Wednesday, the Sensex continued its downward march shedding 100.39 points or 0.79 percent to close at 12,575.80.

Sentiments changed on Thursday and the Sensex surged 536.05 points or 4.26 percent to close at 13,111.85. Strong global markets and a fall in crude oil prices triggered the rally.

The Sensex continued its upward climb on Friday surging 523.55 points or 3.99 percent to close at 13,635.40. The rallies on the last two days of the week saw the Sensex recover the losses suffered during the first three days of the week to end the week slightly higher compared to last week's close.

Among individual scrips, India's top drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories slumped 17.69 percent to Rs. 435.45 on fears that a probe into its drug sales in the US would derail the deal to sell 34.8 percent of the company's equity to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo.

Share price of India's largest IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services fell 0.53 percent to Rs.794.95.

Share price of India's largest home loan lender Housing Development Finance Corporation rose 3.35 percent to Rs.2067.55.

Share price of India's second largest private telecom services provider Reliance Communication fell 0.62 percent to Rs.435.20.

Share price of India's largest private sector company Reliance Industries went up by 4.77 percent to Rs.2,112.65.