Disappointing quarterly earnings numbers and revenue forecast from IT services company Wipro also weighed on investor sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 247.78 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 65,629.24 points. During the day, it plunged 533.52 points or 0.80 per cent to 65,343.50 points.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped to an all-time high of Rs 304.53 lakh crore on Wednesday, buoyed by an unprecedented rally in equities where the BSE benchmark Sensex ended over the 67,000-mark for the first time ever. Rallying for the fifth day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 302.30 points, or 0.45 per cent, to end at its lifetime closing high of 67,097.44 points. During the day, it jumped 376.24 points, or 0.56 per cent, to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 67,171.38 points.
Equity markets this week will be largely guided by trends in global stocks, foreign funds' trading activity and progress of monsoon, analysts said. Investors will also track the movement of rupee against the US dollar and crude oil prices. Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed at fresh lifetime highs on Friday.
Investments into domestic shares through participatory notes (P-Notes) surged to the highest level in more than six-and-half years at Rs 2.65 lakh crore (about $43 billion) in October.
Among the Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Nestle, ITC and Sun Pharma were the major gainers. Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
Market experts said the premiums were down from around 15 per cent before the Union Budget last week to 5-7 per cent at present. Long-only FIIs allocate funds for each market, which entails a certain premium, based on growth projections for the year.
Stock markets will be largely driven by global trends and macroeconomic data announcements in a holiday-shortened week which may see volatility amid monthly derivatives expiry, say analysts. Equity markets will remain closed on Monday for Gurunanak Jayanti. Trading activity of foreign investors and the movement of the rupee against the dollar will also be tracked by investors.
Among major Sensex movers, ITC rose the most by 1.70 per cent, Wipro by 1.43 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.36 per cent and Nestle India by 1.27 per cent. Other gainers included HCL Tech, Asian Paints and Reliance. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel traded with a loss of up to 0.82 per cent.
Top sources in RBI blamed 'unwarranted rumours' about controls on foreign institutional investors' money to the nearly 770 point drop in the benchmark Sensex and rupee dipping to its lowest levels.
Among the Sensex firms, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports sustained their gaining momentum and traded higher by 4.40 per cent and 4.37 per cent, respectively. BPCL, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI were the other major gainers. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Infosys and Bajaj Auto traded in the negative zone with a loss of up to 1.54 per cent.
Equity markets would take cues from domestic inflation data announcement, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Markets would remain closed on Tuesday for 'Diwali Balipratipada'. "As we enter a truncated week with Muhurat trading on Sunday, global cues will play a pivotal role in shaping the market direction.
Benchmark BSE Sensex closed above the historic 66,000-mark for the first time while NSE Nifty hit a new all-time closing high driven by heavy buying in IT counters and fresh foreign fund inflows. Optimism in global equity markets also helped the local markets maintain their winning momentum for a second day. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 502.01 points or 0.77 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,060.90.
Among the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Nestle were the major laggards. Maruti, Power Grid, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, NTPC, HDFC Bank, ITC and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
Draft guidelines say FIIs to be taxed, sub-accounts and non-treaty investors to be spared
Market analysts believe that the FII inflow in India may continue in the next year as well, if the liquidity conditions remain strong.
Among the 19 Sensex firms that have disclosed their latest quarter shareholding pattern, FIIs have reduced their stake in only two companies - Coal India and Hero MotoCorp.
Nearly 200 people were killed and about 350 injured in a spate of terror attacks that rocked the commercial capital for three days, exposing the vulnerability of the world's largest democracy to terrorist operations. Experts said those sectors like tourism, hospitality and automobile may also feel the heat of the negative sentiments after the recent attacks but is likely to regain the momentum in the short to medium term in line with the improving domestic situations.
The combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies hit an all-time high of Rs 337.67 lakh crore ($4 trillion) on Friday amid a rally in equities, mainly on account of favourable macroeconomic data and continuous foreign fund inflows. Rising for the fourth straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 492.75 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 67,481.19 points. During the day, it rallied 575.89 points or 0.85 per cent to 67,564.33 points.
Among the Sensex firms, ITC, NTPC, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and Tata Steel were the major gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
In a move that would help boost flow of overseas funds into Indian capital markets, regulator Sebi allowed FIIs to offer government securities and corporate bonds as collaterals for their cash and derivative transactions on the stock exchanges.
ITC stock slipped over 4 per cent on Thursday (February 8) after British American Tobacco (BAT) said it could sell some of its stake in the company, recovering partially in trade. The stock of the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate traded at Rs 420 levels, rising 1.3 per cent in intraday deals as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded flat for most part of the day. The development, meanwhile, saw Jefferies downgrade the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier with a target price of Rs 430, down a huge 17.3 per cent from its earlier price target of Rs 520.
Stock markets will be largely driven by global trends in the absence of any major domestic triggers this week, say analysts. The trading activity of foreign investors, global crude oil prices and rupee-dollar movement will also influence market movement, they said. "Anticipating a period of consolidation in the absence of clear global cues, the market's trajectory will likely hinge on the movement of the US bond yields, the dollar index, and crude oil prices, as well as institutional flows.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, sliding 2.05 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan. However, IT majors HCL Technologies and TCS defied the trend and gained 1.02 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever rose 0.32 per cent.
The rupee depreciated by 9 paise and settled at its all-time low level of 83.13 against the US dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by a surge in crude oil prices and strong American currency. Forex traders said the Indian rupee depreciated as the US dollar rose to the highest levels in six months. Moreover, elevated crude oil prices also weighed on rupee.
Former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Bimal Jalan on Saturday said that taxing FII inflows will not serve any purpose and his successor Y V Reddy was misquoted on this issue.
Let the fundamentals dictate investment decisions, not FII fund flows.
Raising concern about over-dependence of Indian capital markets on foreign institutional investors, eminent banker Deepak Parekh has said that something needs to be done to change this pattern.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are set to pump in more funds in debt securities, as the next government under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to be a stable one and is seen as growth-oriented by market participants.
Foreign institutional investments in equities soared by 43 per cent to over $9.43 billion this year pushing the Sensex to intra-day record high of 6,409 on Wednesday.
Capital market watchdog Sebi on Friday said foreign institutional investors have to, by October one, end the practice of investing money collected from a single or few investors in stocks, as a guard against manipulation.
As per the latest data compiled by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of Indiabi, the net investments by Foreign Institutional Investors into Indian equity markets stood at Rs 51,433 crore (Rs 514.33 billion) this year so far, while the same for debt markets was at Rs 52,115 crore (Rs 521.15 billion) taking the total to Rs 1,03,548 crore ($17 billion).
Monetary policy stance to depend on inflation data