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Friday, October 31, 2008

Sensex tanks nearly 24% in October 2008


Key benchmark indices bounced back, closely mirroring their global counterparts, which rallied after central banks across the globe cut interest rate to tackle financial crisis. The market sentiment also got a boost after India's inflation rate fell below 11% for the first time since May 2008. It was a truncated week with stock markets closed on Tuesday (28 October 2008) and Thursday (30 October 2008) for the Diwali holidays. A special one-hour Muhurat trading session was held on Tuesday to mark the beginning of the new Samvat year 2065.

The US Federal Reserve cut its main policy rate to 1% on Wednesday, 29 October 2008, to stave off the credit crunch. China reduced rates earlier on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 with Taiwan and Hong Kong following up with rate cuts on Thursday, 30 October 2008. The Bank of Japan annnounced a 20 basis points cut in interest rate on Friday, 31 October 2008.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 1,086.99 points or 12.49% to 9,788.06 in the week ended Friday, 31 October 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 301.6 points or 11.67% to 2885.60 in the week.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 104.34 points or 3.37% to 3,200.02 and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 103.28 points or 2.82% to 3,765.11. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.

October 2008 was a very bad month for stock market investors, as the BSE 30-share Sensex declined 3,072.37 points, or 23.89%, to 9,788.06 in the month. The barometer index is down 10498.93 points or 51.75% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 11418.71 points or 53.84% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

Volatiliy characterised trading on on Monday, 27 October 2008. Short covering of derivatives positions ahead of the expiry on 29 October 2008, triggered a sharp intra-day pullback in the second half of the day's trading session after indices plunged to over three-year low in the first half, spooked by weak global equities. The BSE 30-share Sensex declined 191.51 points, or 2.2%, to close at 8,509.56, after slumping 1,003.68 points to 7,697.39 in afternoon trade, its lowest since 28 October 2005. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 59.80 points, or 2.31%, to 2,524.20.

Firm global markets and relaxation of creeping acquisition norms for promoters boosted the battered bourses on the special one-hour Muhurat trading session that was held on Tuesday, 28 October 2008. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 498.52 points, or 5.85%, to 9,008.08. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 167.70 points, or 6.64%, to 2,691.90.

Expiry of the near month October 2008 derivatives contracts caused high volatility on Wednesday, 29 October 2008. Gains in some Asian and European markets supported domestic bourses. The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 36.43 points or 0.4% to 9.044.51. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 12.45 points or 0.46% to 2,697.05.

Ending one of the worst months in history, the market surged on Friday, 31 October 2008, as it caught up rally in global stocks on Thursday, 30 October 2008, triggered by a steep 50 basis points rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 743.55 points or 8.22% to 9,788.06. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 188.55 points or 6.99% to 2885.60.

India’s largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 34.98% to Rs 1370.75 in the week.

Reliance Communications rose 14.12% to Rs 220.70. India’s second largest telecom services provider by market share reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1530.78 crore, up 17.33% in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. Its consolidated total income increased 23.29% to Rs 5645 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. The company added 5.25 million customers in Q2 September 2008.

Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom services provider by market share, rose 21.43% to Rs 649. Net profit declined 0.9% decline in to Rs 1604.78 crore on a 36.5% increase in sales to Rs 8274.37 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

India’s largest state-run bank by net profit State Bank of India (SBI) fell 4.05% Rs 1109.50 after muted growth in consolidated net profit in Q2 September 2008. SBI reported a 10.60% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2378.19 crore on a 26.4% increase in consolidated total income to Rs 27083.47 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. The consolidated earnings include numbers of recently acquired State Bank of Saurashtra.

ICICI Bank, India's second largest private sector lender by market capitalisation, soared 28.82% to Rs 399.35. Net profit rose 1.2% to Rs 1014.21 crore and operating income 1.3% to Rs 9712.31 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

Tata Power Company gained 10.36% to Rs 689.65, boosted by better-than-expected Q2 results. Net profit of the Mumbai-based power generation company rose 1.7% to Rs 261.93 crore and sales 45% to Rs 1958.88 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

Suzlon Energy, the world's fifth largest wind turbine maker by sales, fell 5.93% to Rs 44.45. The company suspended a Rs 1,800 crore rights issue plan because of the stock-market slide.

The New Delhi-based real estate developer Unitech surged 59.63% to Rs 30.10. The company offloaded a 60% stake in its telecom venture for Rs 6120 crore to Norwegian telecom firm Telenor.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been pulling out their investments from India and other emerging markets to shore up resources to beat the global liquidity crunch. In India, FII were net sellers of Rs 14272.40 crore in October 2008 so far (till 28 October 2008). FIIs have sold Indian shares amounting to Rs 51064.10 crore in calendar 2008. On the other hand, mutual funds have been buying. Their net inflow in October 2008 totaled Rs 848.20 crore (till 28 October 2008).

Derivative contracts for October 2008 series expired on Wednesday, 29 October 2008, with rollovers more or less similar to previous series.

Inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), slipped to 10.68% in the week ended 18th October 2008, from 11.07% in the previous week.