Saturday, August 27 2005 11:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The stock market snapped one of the longest weekly gaining streak and was corrected by 1.29 per cent in the week on concerns caused by high crude price and a slowdown by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

The sensex had gained by a whopping 1626 points or 26.42 per cent in a winning string of sixteen weeks between May 2 and August 20, 2005.

Global oil prices remained above USD 67 per barrel in the week under review, which is likely to force the Government to make another round of hike in domestic fuel prices considering the increasing burden on oil PSUs.

In the week to August 27, 2005, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Benchmark 30-share Index witnessed volatile activity in view of expiry of future contract, before ending the week down by 100.54 points at 7680.22 against last weekend's close of 7780.76.

Operators, which remained cautious, preferred to wind up long outstanding positions in futures in the light of oil prices continuously ruling near record high and FIIs lowering inflows in the recent past.

FIIs reported meagre net investments of Rs 367.30 crore in the first four trading sessions of the week. Local mutual funds, however, made fairly heavy purchases of Rs 494.45 crore in the same period but their focus was largely on small-cap and mid-cap stocks.

Meanwhile, the inflation fell to a new low of 3.13 per cent, the lowest at least for the last three years but it is unlikely to be sustained as any revision in petrol and diesel prices would affect inflation number.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised rules for initial public offers (IPOs) and listing guidelines to end discretionary allotment for qualified institutional bidders (QIB) and also imposed a 10 per cent margin on them. The SEBI also decided to keep 5 per cent of the QIB category reserved for mutual funds.

Heavyweighted counters like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Infosys Technologies, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, State Bank of India (SBI), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), HDFC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank suffered a marked setback.

Among other indices, the broad-based BSE-100 Index dipped by 54.82 points to end the week at 4118.76 from last weekend's close of 4173.58.

The BSE-200 Index and the Dollex-200 were quoted sharply down at 996.11 and 379.24 at the weekend compared to previous weekend's close of at 1008.93 and 385.45 respectively.

The BSE-500 Index fell back by 38.76 points to finish the week at 3213.76 from preceding weekend's close of 3252.52 and the Dollex ended the week lower at 1441.91 from 1465.81 at the last weekend.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty and the S&P CNX Defty tumbled by 26.40 points and 26.95 points to close the week at 2357.05 and 1868.50 from last weekend's close of 2383.45 and 1895.45 respectively. The CNX Nifty Junior dropped by 96.75 points to conclude the week at 4972.05 from 5068.80 at the preceding weekend.

During the week, the volume of business on the BSE and the NSE was relatively high at Rs 14,596 crore and Rs 30,274 crore compared to last week's turnover of Rs 13,455.64 crore and Rs 24,792.90 crore respectively.

Bullion: Gold closed better on the bullion market during the week under review on good stockists' offtake, while silver declined due to lack of industrial demand coupled with weak overseas advices.

The market remained closed on August 27,2005 on account of Janmashtami.

Standard gold (99.5 prity) opened higher at Rs 6250 and rose further smartly to a high of Rs 6285 on heavy buying as the metal had risen to $439.90 per ounce in the international market. Thereafter, it met with resistance at improved level and declined to close at Rs 6275, however, registering a good gain of Rs 35 over the previous weekend close of Rs 6240.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) also started firm at Rs 6285 and after rising to an intra-week high of Rs 6320, declined on fresh selling and closed at Rs 6305, still showing a gain of Rs 30 over the last Saturday's (August 20, 2005) close of Rs 6275.

In the international market, gold opened weak at $436.50 an ounce and after moving up to $439.90 was quoted at $437.60 per ounce this weekend.

Ready silver (.999 fineness) started on an encouraging note at Rs 10,665 and after moving up further smartly to a high of Rs 10,755, fell back sharply and closed at Rs 10,590, showing a loss of Rs 65 over the previous weekend close of Rs 10,655.

In London, silver fell sharply to $6.82 an ounce from the last Friday's (August 19, 2005) level of $6.99.

Oilseeds: A smart rise in castor seed futures on heavy export demand, characterised trading on the oils and oilseeds market during the week under review.

Elsewhere, castor oil and castor seed bold also closed better on good industrial offtake, while edible oils declined on lack of demand.

The market remained closed on August 27, 2005 on account of Janmashtami.

In the futures market, castor seed October delivery contract opened smartly higher at Rs 1614 and rose further sharply to a high of Rs 1666, before ending at Rs 1662, showing a sharp rally of Rs 87 over the last close of Rs 1575.

Turning to the non-edible section, castor oil commercial started better at Rs 349 and continued to rise on increased industrial offtake, before closing at Rs 352, revealing a rise of Rs 7 over the previous weekend close of Rs 345. Castor seed bold Madras also started firm at Rs 1595 and after moving up smartly, closed at Rs 1610, disclosing a smart gain of Rs 35 over the last close of Rs 1575. Linseed oil, however held steady at Rs 425.

Moving to the edible section, groundnut oil opened weak a Rs 486, but soon recovered to a high of Rs 488 on fresh buying. However, the firm trend was short-lived and prices fell back on lack of necessary support and ended at Rs 484, showing a fall of Rs 6 over the last weekend close of Rs 490.

Imported RBD palmolein, after a better start at Rs 364 moved narrowly due to dull activity and closed at Rs 362, a shade lover than the previous close of Rs 363.