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It was a disastrous week for stock markets, thanks to the Eurozone's battle with debt, a gloomy economic outlook for the US and scepticism over the ability of the Fed's ‘Operation Twist' to revive the economy. With a rapidly depreciating rupee against the dollar, news was no better on the domestic front. The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty shed 4.6 and 4.3 per cent respectively.
The broader CNX 500 fell 3.7 per cent while the Nifty Junior declined 2.7 per cent. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, however, fared far better than the large caps, containing slides to 2.6 and 2.4 per cent respectively.
Usually considered a defensive bet, pharmaceuticals fared better among the sectoral indices, with the BSE Healthcare index containing its fall to 1.9 per cent. The BSE Oil & Gas, Metals and Capital Goods indices put up the worst performances, slipping by 5-7 per cent. The BSE PSU and Realty indices lost about 4 per cent each.
The stock of Strides Arcoloab ended the week on a strong note, up 15 per cent, helping the overall gains of the BSE Healthcare index. Reports suggested that Strides was open to sell parts of its non-specialities business to focus on the more profitable speciality drug operations.
The stock of the beleaguered Everonn Education was up 20 per cent on announcing a stake sale to Dubai-based Varkey group, at a huge premium to the current market price.
In Friday's trading gloom, with benchmark indices down over 1 per cent, the stock of VA Tech Wabag shone, clocking gains of 3 per cent on winning Swiss orders worth Euro 12.9 million.
Order wins, however, failed to lift the stock of IVRCL in the face of an alleged CBI probe into tsunami housing irregularities. The stock closed the week, down 15 per cent.
Europe and US troubles hit many a stock. With these two regions being the biggest markets for Jaguar and Land Rover cars, the Tata Motors stock ended the week with a 9 per cent loss.
If an impending lower demand for metals because of the slowdown was not reason enough, domestic raw material pricing pressures pushed the stock of JSW Steel down over 7 per cent.
Sterlite Industries hit a 52-week low, tumbling 9 per cent through the week. Other metals stocks which lost heavily include Sesa Goa, Hindalco and NMDC which were down 7 to 9 per cent.
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