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The last week was a good one for the Indian equity market. The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher by 1.8 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively. Much of these gains were registered towards the fag end of the week. This followed the European Central Bank’s announcement on Thursday of an unlimited bond purchase program to address the rising debt concerns in the Euro Zone.

The global markets cheered the move, and India joined in the chorus. The announcement raises hopes that the troubled Euro Zone has more than a fighting chance to tide over the ongoing turmoil which threatens not just Europe but the global economy. Closer home, there were hopes early in the week that the recommendations of the Shome Committee to postpone implementation of GAAR by three years would buoy the markets. But this did not happen since the markets seem to have already adjusted for this, and were more concerned about the macro-economic challenges facing the Indian economy.

On a sector level, all the indices ended higher the last week. The best performers were the BSE Teck and BSE IT indices which gained 4.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent. The BSE Auto index (up 3.2 per cent) also put up a good show. At the bottom were BSE FMCG and BSE Power which gained 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent.

Among the top gainers last week in the BSE 500 group was Aurobindo Pharma . The stock was up more than 15 per cent due to news that the company has received US FDA approval to manufacture and market a hypertension drug which had sales of around $500 million last fiscal.

Other big gainers include television cable companies Den Networks and Hathway Cable, which rose between 19 and 20 per cent. These stocks received a shot in the arm from a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that the deadline for digitalisation of television networks in the four metros would not be extended beyond October 31.

The big losers included logistics company Blue Dart Express . The stock fell almost 14 per cent after a statement by its parent company Deutsche Post DHL that it plans to dilute its stake to comply with SEBI norms on minimum public shareholding. This removes the possibility of the company being delisted and may have proved a dampener for those which were betting on such an eventuality.

Media company Deccan Chronicle had a roller-coaster ride on the bourses. Earlier in the week, the stock fell sharply due to concerns about its high debt and following a court order restraining the company from selling some of its properties. But the stock made a strong comeback on Friday and in the special trading session on Saturday. This followed news that the company had received offers from bidders, including Videocon Industries, for acquiring its IPL team Deccan Chargers. The stock finally closed 11.4 per cent higher over the week.

The government’s continued dithering on raising fuel prices to tackle the galloping subsidy burden reflected on the stocks of oil marketing companies. Some of the gains made earlier in the week on hopes of price increase were lost after the government took no decision. But news that price may be hiked next week helped the stocks make a comeback. Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL gained between 1.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

Airline companies Jet Airways and SpiceJet lost between 5 and 6 per cent over the week after aviation turbine fuel prices were hiked by more than 5 per cent.

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