Weekly Update 14th – 18th June

The global Markets reacted in a negative fashion with the onset of the week due to concerns arising from small increase in non-farm payrolls in U.S. & default risk from Hungarian Economy. The investors concerns subsided after Germany factory orders surged for a second consecutive month in April.

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European debt crisis which has pushed down Euro 20 percent against the dollar seems to be helping the industry as the demand for goods from emerging economies like China is encouraging companies to add workers. Bernanke statement that the recovery is moderate-paced in U.S. further helped the market in recouping the losses. Although he said that Unemployment may remain high for some time. He also said that “We have right now a very accommodative, very easy monetary policy”. “We can’t wait until unemployment is where we’d like it to be” or inflation gets “out of control” to tighten credit, giving signals that hike in interest rate may come sooner.

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IMF is of the view that the risk to the growth has risen significantly and policy makers around the globe are left with little or no room to provide support to the growth. China surprised the markets as the economy withstood the European crisis after showing that exports grew close to 50 percent in the month of May from a year earlier and new loans were 630 billion Yuan ($92 billion), beating the expectations.

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In the monetary policy, Bank of England remained committed to the record low interest rates to stave off the threat of contagion from the euro region’s sovereign debt crisis. Coming back home, India’s Index of Industrial Production showed a significant growth of 17.6% compared to a year before. The seventh consecutive double digit growth complemented by double digit growth in capital goods & consumer durables may tempt RBI to raise interest rates with the Inflation hovering close to double digits. High inflation & more likely pick up in credit offtake due to strong Industrial Production activity may induce RBI to give signals to banks to raise the interest rates by making an increase in policy rates.

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Trend of world stock markets is still down though all markets took a sharp counterrally from lower levels. If the rally sustains this week, then we can say that temporarily they have made a bottom. But the fear of Euro zone would still linger on in the back of our mind. Nifty faces resistance between 5150-5180 levels and Sensex between 17200-17400 levels

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At present there are lots of opportunities for traders to take advantage of volatility in the commodity prices, but this is also the fact that money may not be consistently made on only one side. Last week, we saw a smart recovery in metals and energy complex while bullions fell. However, the movement was not so confident that we can say that downside is overdone and now we can see rally from the current levels. However, one can expect a gradual recovery in base metals prices. In bullions, rally may get tired but buying is still intact and any bad news can stimulate buying with limited upside. If positive data comes further as last week then base metals may see further recovery and vice a versa.

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Weeekly Update 17th – 21st May

Global markets saw a sigh of relief with the start of new week after the European Union unveiled a 750 billion-euro ($949 billion) financial assistance program backed by European Central Bank bond purchases aimed to prevent a broader sovereign-debt crisis in the region. But thereafter could not build onto the gains as it was felt that the rescue plan may not help in averting a slowdown in the region. The concerns from developed nations to developing nations like china continued to cast a dark shadow on the investors mind. Chinese market went into a bear market on the concerns that the government will make borrowing dearer to check spiraling inflation & growth.

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With the fallout of European crisis it is widely believed that the central banks may not adopt tighter monetary policies with the fragile recovery. Chief of Indian central bank said that he plans to raise interest rates in a calibrated way given the risks to global growth. The belief led to a rally in the interest rate sensitive’s like Realty, auto & consumer durables in the domestic markets.

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Whereas the growth concerns continued to punish sectors like metal & oil.

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However safe heavens like gold & bond markets continued to see money coming in with investors seeking for safe shelters.

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Continued double digit growth i.e. 13.5% in march in Industrial production for the sixth consecutive month has mirrored one clear thing that India per se is on strong footing if compared to any part of world. Planning commission chief Montek singh ahluwalia saying that government is working out a 500 billion rupee fund to improve the infrastructure, is making our belief strong that infrastructure sector will see a robust growth in India over the long period.

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Trend of all world stock markets is still down and even a strong rally of Monday could not bring much relief as the markets gave up the rally in later part of the week on the back of weaking Euro and uncertainity in Europe. Neither the base metal commodities nor Crude is able to rally which shows lack of strength in the rally in stock markets. Nifty faces resistance between 5100-5200 levels and Sensex between 17000-17500 levels.

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The underlying unease over health of EU economy has room for more buying in bullions. At the same time bullions are paying no attention to dollar index the way they used to in general. Inflation in China, which is on 18 months highs, is indicating further monetary tightening, which may weigh on commodity prices in future. Overall trend of base metals and energy may remain weak, however, lower level buying cannot be denied in between. Important data from Japanese economy front may also give further direction to base metals and energy. On agro commodities front, they may remain volatile before expiry.

Weekly Update 26th – 30th April 2010

Domestic markets started the week on a negative note on the back of the Greek debt issues and Goldman Sachs fraud issues, but managed to close in the positive terrain supported by firm US markets in line with less than expected hike in Policy Rates & Cash Reserve Ratio by RBI to tame the inflation; Policy rates and CRR increased by 25 bps each. The food price index rose 17.65% in the 12 months to April 10, marginally higher than an annual rise of 17.22% in the previous week. Moreover IMF announcement of India`s growth at 8.5% for the calendar 2011 boosted the sentiments.

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Additionally, announcement of government recapitalization of PSU banks stimulated banking sector and banking stocks were among the major gainers of the week. Good corporate numbers, expectation of good monsoon together with buying by foreign institutions kept the momentum intact for the rest of the week. Going forward market participants globally would be closely watching G20 finance chiefs plan to withdraw economic stimulus as the recovery strengthens.

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The IMF this week said that rising government debt is one of the biggest threats to the world economy.

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Forecast of normal monsoon season by Indian Meteorological department may keep the sentiments positive in the coming week but volatility may rise ahead of the expiry. On the global front, the UK’s economy grew at a slower than anticipated pace in the first quarter. In US, sales of new homes surged by 27 percent in March and orders for most durable goods climbed, indicating the U.S. economy is speeding ahead into the second quarter. Greece troubles that kept the markets jittery especially for the payments approaching in the month of May came to an end after it said that it has sought a relief aid from the European Union to save it from a default.

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US stock markets kept the rally intact which held the other world markets and did not let them fall.

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Shanghai remained under pressure as commodities saw some pressure and profit booking at higher levels. Indian stocks are seeing more strength in cash stocks and banking stocks. Nifty has support between 5200-5100 levels and Sensex between 17400-17200 levels.

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This week is full of event risk, especially from US economy side. Gradually, commodity is retreating from the higher levels but it will be too early to say that it is giving a clear indication for the approaching time. But yes, upside is limited.

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Negative expectation of US GDP figure for the first quarter may hammer the prices. If dollar index trades above the level of 82 then it would keep gold to be in sideways territory. Copper saw three weeks nonstop downside and it is expected to see more downside. Range trading in crude oil is indicating the saturation at the higher levels and market needs big news to see further upside..

Weekly Update 12th-16th April 2010

The markets continued with their upward momentum despite the concerns arising that Greece may default on 304.2 billion euros ($405.2 billion) of its debt. Trichet expressed confidence that Greece won’t default & many believe that IMF may come in for a bailout.

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Concerns also arose over the huge gains that markets world over has seen in a year. All in all the optimism about the strength of the recovery in global economy suggested by various positive economic data kept the market pace intact. According to National Institute of Economic and Social Research, UK GDP expanded by 0.4% in the first quarter matching the increase seen in the last quarter of the previous calendar year.

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Huge bank credit offtake in the last fortnight ending 26 March 2010 to the tune of Rs. 1.15 lakh crore after the continuous signs of Industrial,service & external sector recovery will increase the faith among the investors about the economy. The recent run up in the markets hassomewhat discounted the expected good corporate results & the increase in policy rates by the RBI to avoid the danger of generalised inflation in the economy. From the market activity, it looks that the Midcap & small cap would remain the favorites among the investors due to relative valuations. In the coming week, focus of the market would be on the Infosys results & guidance & market would also look on to the IIP numbers, especially the capital goods to gauge the momentum in the Industrial activity.

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Trend of all world markets is up and so have the Indian Stock Markets posted a 9 week continuous rally. The falling dollar index and the rising rupee gave steam to various asset classes which all moved up. The debate between the problems of Greece or other European nations will be unending but till the trend is up, one should look at longs. Nifty has support between 5250-5150 levels and Sensex between 17700-17300 levels.

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Recent buoyancy coupled with projected tightness in the supply of various commodities is signifying the bottoming out of global economy.

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Improvement in housing, job and retail sales data are stimulating fresh buying in commodities, especially in metals and energy. Remarkable jump in dollar index is unable to give much impact on commodities as they are trading on their own fundamentals. Nevertheless, several commodities hit multi months high, hence cautious approach is advised here. Appreciating rupee, which gained more than 5% in just nine weeks, is most likely to eat up the volatility in domestic exchanges. Price movements could be locked in agro commodities as well, particularly in spices, as export activities have become subdued due to the same reason of appreciation in rupee.

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Stay Tuned for More Updates

Indian Stock Market Reaction To Indian Budget :)

Indian stock markets, reacted positively to the budget, with a benchmark index breaking free to close 237 points higher than its previous weekly close. 🙂

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) moved up 237.92 points or 1.47 percent to end Friday at 16,429.55 points, 237 points above its previous weekly close at 16,191.63 points.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too posted gains to end the week at 4,922.3 points, up 77.4 points or 1.57 percent.

Broader market indices, however, ended the week in the red with the BSE midcap index closing 0.54 percent down and the BSE smallcap index 1.67 percent lower.

“Though it is not possible to keep everyone happy, the finance minister has done a commendable job. This was evident from the way markets reacted to the announcements,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, the equity head for brokerage firm SMC Capitals.

“The budget did help in breaking from the side-ways movement, but it is not going to help much going forward. A lot of the budget news has been factored in and one should not expect a major rally,” he added.

The top gainers during the week included Hindalco (up 7.7 percent), Maruti Suzuki (up 6.8 percent), L&T (up 6.2 percent), Hero Honda (up 5.5 percent) and ICICI Bank (up 5 percent).

Among top losers were ITC (down 6.5 percent), Reliance Communications (down 2.8 percent), Tata Power (down 2.2 percent), Hindustan Unilever (down 2.2 percent) and Reliance Industries (down 0.6 percent).

Data with markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed that foreign funds were net buyers during the week, having bought scrips worth $313.56 million.

Benchmark indices in the US ended slightly lower this week with Dow Jones industrial average dipping 0.8 percent, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index 500 down 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq composite falling 0.3 percent.

Weekly Update of The Market (15th – 19th February)

Hello Friends, here, we bring you the weekly overview of the Indian as well as of the Global economy and latest global business and industry updates.

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Weekly Update of The Market (15th - 19th February)

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The much awaited gains in global markets which came in the week gone by, was a big relief for investors.

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Improving Australian Jobless rate (falling) to 5.3% from 5.5% & China‘s lending surged to 1.39 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in January, more than in the previous three months together lowered the concerns of global economic recovery and proved to be some of the triggers for the global markets gain.

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European Union statement that it is ready to support Greece somewhat eased pressure but China central bank another move to hike reserve requirement by 50 basis point to rein the credit growth spoiled the mood of the markets.

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Chinese banks disbursed 19% of the lending target in January alone.

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The existing reserve requirements stood at 16 percent for the biggest banks and 14 percent for smaller ones.

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🙂

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Back at home, CSO expectations of decline in farm output to be contained within 0.2 per cent & robust recovery in industrial performance rejoiced the markets that GDP growth may come even better for the current fiscal year.

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On the flip side, market is cautious from budget outcomes on expected move towards fiscal consolidation.

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High fiscal deficit together with high inflation pose some long term risk for the equity market.

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The much awaited reforms in the areas FDI, BFSI & fuel and fertilizer subsidiary & a roadmap for implementation of Goods & Services Tax & Direct Tax Code can spark the rally in the domestic market.

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In the coming week, we may see some activity in capital goods sector on the back of very good IIP numbers.

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Industrial production witnessed a growth of 16.8% on Year on Year basis while cumulative growth for the April to December period has now inched up to 8.6% over the corresponding period.

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Overall the trend of most asset classes including stock markets around the world is down due to rising dollar index.

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Going ahead in the budget, we expect volatility to increase and markets to see big moves up and down.

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🙂

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International cues are positive on the fundamental side but Europe problems and stimulus withdrawal along with rising inflation are having negative effect.

One should remain cautious going ahead.

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Nifty faces resistance between 4900-5000 levels and Sensex between 16400-17000 levels.

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A pick up in investor’s sentiments, softer dollar amid expectation of rescue plan for Greece have rejuvenated most of the commodities, especially metals and energy.

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We are expecting a thin trading in the beginning of the week, as US market is closed on Monday on the occasion of “President Day”.

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Absence of participation of Chinese market due to celebration of New Year holidays can limit the volatility of commodities further.

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If we talk about the trend, overall commodities may trade in a range now.

Any improvement in Japanese GDP data can give further boost in the prices.

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🙂

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Stay Tuned for More on weekly updates.

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Note : For More Latest Industry, Stock Market and Economy News and Updates, please click here

Weekly Update of The Market (08th-12th February)

Hello Friends, here, we bring you the weekly overview of the Indian as well as of the Global economy and  latest global business and industry updates.

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Weekly Update of The Market (08th-12th February)

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After starting the year on a good note & Indices making fresh highs within few weeks many Asian markets have corrected between 7 to 10%.

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The global sell off over sovereign debt problems in Europe and an unexpected rise in jobless claims in US put investors on the defensive mode.

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The anxiety about sovereign debt in Greece, Portugal and Spain sparked a sell-off in the Euro & has led strength to US dollar.

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Foreign investors sell off is an outcome of dollar-carry-trade unwinding as when they borrowed the dollar was cheap & now it is recovering.

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Investors viewed the markets in year 2010 with confidence in view of recovery gaining momentum is now shaken over the debt problems, nascent economic recovery & confidence of the governments that stand behind the euro.

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Efforts of China to curb lending preventing overheating in economy also pose a risk to derail the global recovery.

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Back at home, the effect of turmoil in the international market also made government to think its strategy on ambitious disinvestment programme.

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🙂

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Lukewarm response to the NTPC, the much awaited issue managed to get subscription of just 1.2 times on its closing day.

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The maximum bid of 20.87 crore shares was put by Indian institution under the first time adopted French Auction route.

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This has challenged the finance Ministry hopes on the proceeds from disinvestments to make up the sliding revenue & rising expenditure.

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While it looks that PSU disinvestment may not yield desired results on market weakness, the 3G auction i.e. expected to garner Rs. 35,000 crore could be postponed to next fiscal year.

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🙂

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The fate of some of the IPO’s like NMDC, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd and Rural Electrification Corporation that are on the disinvestment agenda before March 31, looks tough to sail through, if the stock markets do not rise and big investors do not come back.

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On the contrary, Banks like Bank of Baroda & Indian Bank that were expected to raise money overseas have put now their plans on hold.

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🙂

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The good news from the external sector continued as the data showed a 9.3% annual increase in exports in December to $14.6 billion, a second consecutive month rise.

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While imports increased by 27.2% from a year earlier to $24.75 billion.

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Food inflation remained at high levels & rose to 17.56% in the week ended 23 January 2010 from 17.40% in the previous week on the back of rising pulses & potato prices.

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Markets are likely to take a closer view of the advance estimates on economic growth for the current fiscal ending March 2010 scheduled to be released on Monday.

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🙂

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In the days to come an activity in the sectors like railways, fertiliser, textiles, pharma, education, power and infrastructure may be seen on expected positive policy announcements and budgetary sops.

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It was clearly mentioned last week that world markets are going in downtrend and one should be careful in such a scenario and that one should be moving in cash.

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Now the markets have taken a very sharp fall last week due to rise in Dollar Index and fall in all asset classes.

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🙂

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The coming week might see some counter rally from lower levels.

Nifty faces resistance between 4900-5000 levels and Sensex between 16400-17000 levels.

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🙂

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If we talk about commodity markets then one can see that strengthening dollar and lack of firm global cues had pressurized commodities prices to move southward.

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Investors are selling riskier assets and putting their money in dollar as a safe haven buying.

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Debt concerns facing Greece, Portugal and Spain coupled with dollar index which is trading above the mark of 80 is most likely to compel commodities to trade lower.

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French and euro zone GDP, USD advance retail sales, USD U. of Michigan Confidence will give further direction to commodities.

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Investors should keep an eye on gold – silver ratio.

It was 58:1 few months back, now reached to 67:1 on MCX, heading towards the level of 70:1.

It is demonstrating more selling in silver.

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🙂

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Stay Tuned for More on weekly updates.

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Note : For More Latest Industry, Stock Market and Economy News and Updates, please click here

EQUITY MARKET OVERVIEW JANUARY 2010

EQUITY MARKET OVERVIEW JANUARY 2010

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The year 2009 was an unconventional year with surprises galore.

The sharp recovery in the benchmark Sensex is evident of the same.

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The year came with some shocks and some surprises, be it Satyam opening the Pandora’s Box, government coming to the rescue through fiscal stimulus or gold touching the new highs.

With appreciation of more than 75%, 2009 calendar year emerged as the best year bringing back hope and strengthening the faith and confidence of investors.

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As we welcome the New Year, let’s have a glance at how was the sunset of 2009 with the happenings in the month of December.

The month started with not much action as the indices were little changed as every rise was seen as an opportunity to book profits as fear of rising inflation barred investors from building large positions.

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The India’s industrial output jumped 11.7% in November 2009 from a year earlier, helped by stimulus measures and robust domestic demand.

The momentum in the country’s industrial output is likely to sustain in the coming months.

The facility for Indian companies to buy back their Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) under the automatic route and approval route would be discontinued from January 2010 due to the improvement in the equity market.

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The central bank said it would allow non-bank financial companies which are focused on financing infrastructure projects to borrow from overseas markets under the approval route.

During the middle of the month, profit taking pulled the key benchmark indices lower.

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The worst monsoon since 1972 and flood in some parts of the country have pushed up food prices nearly to 17.28% annually in beginning of January, while the headline inflation accelerated to 7.31% in December.

The food supplies need to be boosted to stem the price rise as the current acceleration in inflation rate is not only due to loose monetary stance.

The government towards this, has cut the open sale price of wheat, while ministers have pledged to import food items that are in short supply to boost local supplies and stem inflation.

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Dollar also showed strength and sparked fears of unwinding of dollar carry trade.

The Christmas week saw a ‘Santa Claus’ rally that took the market to 19 months’ closing high in a truncated trading week.

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Further, the latest data showed that corporate advance tax payments for the October-December 2009 quarter shot up sharply, suggesting a higher profit growth in corporate sector in the third quarter (October-December) of the current fiscal.

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The corporate advance tax payments for the quarter were up 44% to Rs.48300 crore against a 3.7% decline in April-June quarter and a 14.7% increase in July-September quarter.

The company-wise break-up of advance tax collection suggests a broad-based recovery with automobiles, cement, metals and consumer goods, doing well.

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Amidst all this, we had the Finance Minister‘s statement that containing inflation and cutting fiscal deficit are the major challenges for the government in the short-to-medium term.

Towards this the government can even alter the proposed draft for the direct tax code to sustain the high economic growth.

🙂

Note : For More Latest Industry, Stock Market and Economy News and Updates, please Click Here

Indians Equities Gained a Meagre 14 Points this Week

Indians Equities Gained a Meagre 14 Points this Week

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A benchmark index of Indian equities gained a meagre 14 points this week from its last weekly close even as broader indices managed to move up significantly and foreign investors bought into a wide range of scrips.

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Trading this week was range-bound on most days, and brushed aside improved industrial output numbers.

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The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose 14.1 points or 0.08 percent to end Friday at 17,584.87 points, from its previous weekly close at 17,540.29 points.

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The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) moved up 0.14 percent or 7.45 points from its last weekly close to end at 5,252.2 points.

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Broader market indices, however, reflected the buying interest in mid-to-small sized scrips as the BSE midcap index ended 1.5 percent up and the BSE smallcap index rose 3.14 percent.

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Data with markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed that foreign funds were net buyers during the week, having bought scrips worth $981.55 million.

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According to Jagannadham Thunuguntla, the equity head for brokerage firm SMC Capitals, the benchmark indices will continue to see a lot of sideways movement, having rallied over 90 percent in a year.

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‘Such sideways movement is expected, and will be the norm for some time to come.

Positive economic numbers and encouraging corporate results will not always translate into gains in the market,’ said Thunuguntla.

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The week started on a lackluster note Monday, with the Sensex ending 13 points lower at 17,526.71 points due to profit booking in front line stocks — Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and SBI.

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The Nifty, which followed a similar trajectory to the BSE benchmark, managed to gain marginally at 5,249.4 points, a rise of 0.09 percent.

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The top gainers in the Sensex were TCS (up 13.1 percent), Wipro (up 10.2 percent), Infosys (up 8.6 percent), ACC (up 7.5 percent) and Ambuja Cements (up 6.9 percent).

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Among top losers were SBI (down 6.2 percent), Hindalco (down 3.9 percent), ICICI Bank (down 3.6 percent), Hindustan Unilever (down 3.6 percent) and Reliance Infra (down 3.3 percent).

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🙂

FLASHBACK 2009

For India, 2009, been a great year with the return of a stable government at centre, good FII inflow, 80% increase in the Indian stock market and less terror attacks. But globally, H1N1 influenza and a series of bankruptcy by some big international giants are some events, which we never want to happen again.

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Putting behind the worst annual performance ever, Indian equities were on a roll in 2009, catapulting a key index by more than 80 percent, to close the year with one of the best gains among emerging markets.

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At closing bell Thursday, the 30-share benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was ruling at 17,464.81 points with an impressive gain of 7,817.5 points, or 81.03 percent, over the previous year’s close at 9,647.31 points.

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This was the best annual performance since 1999 and was in sharp contrast to 2008, when the Sensex ended with a hefty loss of 10,639.68 points or 52.45 percent making it the third-worst performing equities index among emerging markets.

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The story was no different at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the other major bourse in the country, where the broader 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty gained a hefty 2,241.9 points or 75.76 percent when it closed at 5,201.05 points Thursday.

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The main factors that made key indices rise like a Phoenix was resilience of the Indian economy and impressive growth despite global slowdown that also reflected in corporate earnings and the return of the foreign institutional funds.

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According to markets watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, such overseas funds pumped about $17.46 billion into the Indian stock markets in 2009, as opposed to a net sale worth $13.135 billion for the first time in over a decade..

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‘The performance in 2009 surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic person. There were not many places left for foreign funds to invest and India was among the few attractive destinations,’ said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head at SMC Capitals.

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Even as the Sensex gained 7,817.5 points, some of the 13 sector-specific indices stood out because of their performance — the metals index appreciated the most, up 233.68 percent, while auto followed with a gain of 204.16 points..

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Similarly, the indices for information technology was up 132.78 percent, capital goods gained 104.26 percent, consumer durables rose 97.8 percent, banking gained 83.9 percent, state-run enterprises inflated 80.54 percent, power moved up by 74.3 percent.

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On the whole, the year started on a promising note with the government unveiling a second dose of fiscal stimulus to help the economy weather the adverse impact of a slowdown in the global economy — touted as the worst in eight decades.

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As a result, the Sensex rallied till Jan 6 and gained 7.13 percent in just three days of trading. But then came the confession of a multi-million dollar fraud by Satyam Computer founder B. Ramalinga Raju, triggering a 7.25 percent fall in just one session.

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Till February, the barometer index was oscillating between 9,000-odd points and 10,300-levels. But as signs of a prolonged economic recession receded the world over, Indian equities found more takers and reflected in steady rise in the index.

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By the beginning of May it was trading comfortably around the 12,000-point mark and gave a thumping welcome to the electoral victory of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance — that even saw suspension of trading as indices hit the upper circuit twice.

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On that eventful day of May 18, the Sensex stood at 14,284.21 points, gaining 2,110.79 points, or 17.33 percent, over the previous close, while Nifty also rose 17.3 percent, or 636.4 points, to close at 4,308.05 points.

The remaining months of the year saw a steady rise in the index with interim corrections even as events like the presentation of an industry-friendly national budget and a high growth for the economy during the second quarter boosted investor sentiments.

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Looking at individual stocks that go into the Sensex basket, the top five gainers during 2009 were Tata Motors, up 398.33 percent at Rs.792.60; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 293.23 percent at Rs.1,080.80; Sterlite Industries, up 230.45 percent at Rs.861.65; Hindalco, up 211.23 percent at Rs.160.75; and Maruti Suzuki, up 199.88 percent at Rs.1,559.65.

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Only three stocks ended lower — Bharti Airtel was down 54.02 percent at Rs.328.80; Reliance Communications was down 23.92 percent at Rs.172.90; and Reliance Industries which ended lower since the company declared a 1:1 bonus.

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Looking ahead, the markets expect some more action once the government’s divestment programme gets underway even as investors have their fingers crossed on when the Sensex will breach the magical 21,000 mark.

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So, overall, the year 2009 has been one of the most significant chapters in the stock market growth with an increase of 80% in its value. Further, we keep our spirits high on FM’s comment that Indian economy can grow at 7.75% in FY10.

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