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Spreading unrest in West Asia with the resultant spiralling crude oil prices and macro economic worries sparked a market sell-off last week. Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty lost 805 and 255 points respectively between Tuesday and Thursday's trade, before staging a mild recovery on Friday. The two indices closed the week down 2.8 per cent. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fared even worse and lostover 4 per cent. The broader market represented by the CNX 500 lost 3.2 per cent, while the Nifty Junior shed 3.7 per cent.

All was not woe however, with the BSE Oil & Gas index up 0.8 per cent for the week. The stock of Reliance Industries managed to close the week with a 3 per cent gain on the back of BP investing $7.2 billion for a 30 per cent stake in 23 exploration blocks which Reliance operates in India. Cairn India too closed with a 4 per cent gain.

Other stocks to post gains included Jubilant Foodworks , which ended the week up 8 per cent after it signed an agreement to become the master franchisee for the US-based Dunkin Donuts to bring the brand into India.

Good December quarter results propped the stock of Gujarat Pipavav Port , which closed with a 4 per cent gain.

The BSE Auto index was among the worst performers in sector indices, down 5.4 per cent. The stocks of Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra and Mahindra lost over 8 per cent on worries over fuel price hikes in the wake of rising crude oil prices.

Airline stocks too felt the heat of high crude prices, with the stocks of Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and SpiceJet shedding 12 to 15 per cent by the end of the week.

The BSE Healthcare index, the BSE Bankex and the BSE Capital Goods index, lost between 4 per cent and 6 per cent. The BSE FMCG and the BSE IT index were relatively better performers, losing between 0.3 to 2 per cent.

The stock of Mphasis plummeted 31 per cent on reports that investors were unhappy over eroding margins and fears of heavy pricing discount being given to deals from HP . The stock of Aurobindo Pharma tanked 26 per cent by the end of the week on concerns over the impact of the US FDA's ‘import alert' on products from the company's facility in Andhra Pradesh.

The stock of Punj Lloyd hit its 52-week low, on concerns over the high exposure of its order book to the politically unstable Libya. The stock lost 13 per cent over the week. The stock of Larsen and Toubro fell 8 per cent over order book exposure to the volatile West Asia.

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