Market ends week at 15-month high

A 1% rally on Friday helped the Indian markets to recover and end the expiry week at 15-month high. A firming global trend and the rupee rising to five-month high against the dollar helped the market commence the new settlement in the derivatives segment on a promising note. The overall sentiment remained buoyanton expectations of further initiatives on the core reforms. The SC opinion on the Presidential Reference also soothed sentiments. Globally, there were some renewed concerns on Spain and China, which kept global markets quiet.

During the week, the 30-share index, Sensex gained 9.91 points, or 0.05% to 18,762.74, a 15-month high. On the other hand, the broad based NSE Nifty gained 12.15 points, or 0.21%, to 5,703.3.

Meanwhile, BSE Midcap and Smallcapoutperformed the broaderindicesby gaining 2.72% and 3% respectively.

Sectorally, BSE Realty, Bankex, Capital goods and Power were the leaders this week. Stocks in the FMCG, Healthcare and IT were the underperformers, after their strong run-up in recent weeks.All the sectoral indices at the BSE ended mixed. Top gainers were BSE Consumer durables (4.77%), FMCG (4%), Realty (3.91%), Power (2.95%), Healthcare (2.32%), Capital goods (2.09%), Auto (1.4%) and Bankex (0.78%).

However, BSE Oil & gas (2.17%), Metal (1.41%), IT (1.01%), TecK (0.96%) and PSU (0.9%) dropped for the week.Commenting on the market outlook, Dipen Shah, head of private client group research, Kotak Securities said, ''The focus of the markets will now shift to the quarterly results season starting mid-October. Markets will also watch out for fiscal initiatives from the Government and expectations are running high on this front. The September inflation numbers will be more important as they will play a part in the RBIâ™s rate decision in its next policy review meeting. Valuations are at the average of the long-term valuation band for the Sensex and hence, are not cheap. We believe that, markets will consolidate and move up in line with further announcements on core reforms, which are now widely anticipated. Any move from China to support its economy will be an added positive, particularly for commodities. However, opinion is mixed on this front.''Rakesh Goyal, senior vice president, Bonanza Portfoliowhile commenting on the technical outlook for next week, said, ''5,740 shall hold the key deciding point for further trend. Above 5,740, market can move upto 5,850-5,950 levels in coming sessions. Short positions must be avoided in such an uptrend and Investors may also book partial profits at current levels. On the downside, 5,640-5,580 shall be support levels.''