The first quarter earnings of FY07 are through and most corporates have thrown up good surprises. However, the same cannot be said for the Sensex and other sectoral indices on a YoY basis. Moneycontrol does a status check on the Sensex and sectoral Indices' returns on a YoY basis.
It is of course no surprise that the markets during Q1FY06 were in a very bullish phase and thus lent good returns, however the complete opposite has taken place in Q1FY07. Here even though the Sensex is at 11,000 levels, the market returns have been diametrically opposite.
Market levels fell by as much as 2000 points, from a high of 12,600 odd levels to around 10,000 in the month of May this year. This damage was a reflection of the interest rate and market condition globally. Oil prices and inflation too continued to put pressure on the markets. So these losses are definitely reflected in the market returns of this quarter.
While, FMCG was the clear hero in Q1FY06 by being up 20.8 per cent, this year it hasn't raked in any glory, it has in fact fallen by 13.9 per cent.
The healthcare index has taken quite a beating this quarter, and has fallen by 20.6 per cent, which basically suggests that this sector has not been the recepient of any good news this quarter as compared to Q1FY06.
Metals have shown slight improvement, YoY. But, in this quarter while most indices have fallen, oil has been a gainer, appreciating around 5 per cent in Q1FY07, though oil was up 9.5 per cent in Q1FY06.
Volatility in the market is clearly visible in the performance of the Sensex and other sectoral indices in the first three months of this financial year. So does this suggest that the Sensex was much better off at 7000 levels? This might be the case since it rose by 8.9 per cent in Q1FY06, whereas it fell by 8.2 per cent in Q1FY07, since it has become highly volatile and overheated.
Meanwhile, three more quarters await us ahead, so it would be a bit pre-mature to say markets are totally bearish, but numbers thrown up in this YoY comparison definitely suggest a 'U' turn pattern in the markets.
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