Market falls by 245 points to 29,461.45 for the week

Mumbai: Snapping the previous two weekly gains, the benchmark Sensex fell 245.16 points to 29,461.45, while the broader Nifty cracked the key 9,200-level to finish at 9,150.80.

The truncated trading week saw the market nipped by fuelling geo-political crises following last week US cruise missile attack on Syria, while volatility prepossessed the investor sentiment owing to the start of fourth quarterly earning results and slew of key macro-data's releases.

The initial consolidative momentum made way for correction with market seeing three losses out of four trading sessions, as the disappointment perturbed the sentiment following the release of lower Industrial output, surge in CPI inflation as well as weak start in key earning results.

Rising tension in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula following last week's US strike against Syria and sabre-rattling by the US and North Korea took toll to the global stocks, pushing investors to safer assets like gold, treasuries and the yen.

On the domestic front, the industrial output slipped to a 4-month low by contracting 1.2 per cent in February and fuel prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 3.81 per cent in March.

Finally, a dismal start in earning results, with IT index getting hammered after Infosys weak revenue outlook and plan to return cash to shareholders fell short of market expections.

During the week, the key indices opened higher at 29,752.62, hovered between 29,838.82 and 29,442.26, before settling at 29,461.45, Showing loss of 245.16 points, or 0.83 per cent.

The sensex had gained 285.21 points or 0.97 per cent on previous two weeks. While Nifty lost 47.50  points, or 0.52 per cent to quote below the key 9,200-level at 9,150.60.

Selling was led by IT, Metal, Teck, Auto, Consumer Durables and Power sectors. While buying witnessed in IPOs, Realty, PSUs, HealthCare, Oil&Gas, FMCG, Banks and Capital Goods.

The broader midcap and smallcap companies shares also found good buying interest. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth  Rs 2,264.05 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of April 13.

In the broader market, The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 117.80 points or 0.83 per cent to settle at 14,350.96. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 199.74 points or 1.36 per cent to settle at 14,881.16. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

Among sectoral and industry indices, IT fell by 4.11 per cent followed by metal 4.10 per cent, teck 3.49 per cent, auto 0.82 per cent, consumer durables 0.78 per cent and power

0.64 per cent, while realty rose by 2.33 percent, followed by healthcare 1.89 per cent, oil&gas 1.85 per cent, FMCG 1.33 per cent, bankex 1.26 per cent and capital goods 0.34 per cent, Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 18 stocks fell and remaining 12 stocks gained during the week.

Shares of Adani Ports fell 7.81 per cent. The stock was the top loser from the Sensex pack. IT was followed by Tata Steel 5.86 per cent, Infosys 5.08 per cent, TCS 4.09 per cent, Wipro 3.51 per cent, Tata Motors 3.22 per cent, Reliance 2.93 per cent, Maruti 2.79 per cent, Gail 2.21 per cent and Cipla 2.12 per cent, while Sun Pharma rose by 4.00 per cent, ITC 2.57 per cent, Coal India 2.47 per cent, power grid 2.13 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.75 per cent, Lupin 1.63 per cent and HUL 0.60 per cent.

The total turnover during the week on BSE and NSE fell to Rs 15,016.25 crore and Rs 98,393.40 crore, respectively, as against last weekend's level of Rs 16,104.66 crores and Rs 1,05,939.97 crores. Both the markets remained closed yesterday on account of "Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti" and "Good Friday".