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The Reserve Bank of India’s annual report re-affirmed market expectation of a higher-than-budgeted fiscal deficit. Amid continued nervousness about the country’s economic prospects, the bellwether Sensex gained 0.52 per cent over the week, while the Nifty ended the week with a 0.38 per cent gain.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE IT index was the top gainer with a 3.3 per cent gain for the week. Defensive sectors such as FMCG and pharma continued to outperform the broad markets, gaining 1.8 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively during the week.

Realty, and oil and gas were the top losers for the week, falling 2.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.

State-owned telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) gained 22 per cent over the week as the company announced plans to lease out its land and monetise infrastructure. The company also intends to sell its broadband spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai. This may fetch MTNL more than Rs 4,500 crore.

SEBI’s proposal to allow companies to use bonus and rights issue route to raise public shareholding to 25 per cent, triggered a 15 per cent jump in multinational phama major AstraZeneca .

During the week, pharma packaging company Bilcare signed an agreement with the global healthcare service provider, United Drug Plc, to sell its global clinical supplies business in the US and the UK for $61 million. The stock price was up 10 per cent over the last week, on the back of the deal announcement.

The RBI’s stance that it would wait and watch before taking a call on interest rate cuts proved a dampener for banking stocks. The major losers in the sector were Canara Bank (down 7 per cent), followed by Yes Bank and United Bank of India , both of which lost around 4 per cent. Other losers include Axis Bank and Union Bank of India , both losing 3 per cent.

Coal India will seek shareholders nod to amend the articles of association to facilitate share buy back. This development helped the stock gain 4.7 per cent over the week.

Information technology major Infosys rose 4 per cent on pronouncement of a favourable verdict by a US court. The judge hearing the case filed by ex-employee Jack Palmer rejected the allegation against the company of having flouted visa laws.

The Government’s decision to make Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) a state-owned unit was given the thumbs down by the market. As a result, the stock tanked 16.7 per cent. On conversion of Rs 923 crore worth debentures into shares, the government will hold 55.5 per cent stake in the company.

Telecom biggie Bharti Airtel fell 5.4 per cent per cent during the week. Analyst downgrades took a toll on the stock price. Goldman Sachs downgraded it to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ while Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’.

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