New Technology

The Sensex maintained its previous week's level and ended at 11,403 points on the last trading day of the week, Wednesday, rising by a marginal 0.65 per cent. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) invested around Rs 2,491 crore in equities during the week. For the month of April, their total investment in equities stood at Rs 6,508 crore.

The sectoral indices presented a mixed bag of results last week. The major gainers were Information Technology (IT) and Banks, which gained 4.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively during the week. The heavily battered sectors were Realty and Metals, which declined 5.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

"The fact that the US economy is showing some signs of revival may have been reflected in the rise of the IT index last week. However, the realty index is still reeling under pressure due to anticipation of poor Q4 results," says V K Sharma of Anagram Stock Broking. India's largest real estate company, DLF, on Thursday posted a staggering 92.7 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit for the March quarter - a development that is likely to shake market participants' faith in the realty sector even further.

Inflation rose slightly to 0.57 per cent for the week ended April 18, 2009. It stood at 0.26 per cent the week before. Crude oil is currently trading at $49.9 per barrel, declining a marginal 0.7 per cent during the week. Gold declined by about 1 per cent. It is currently trading at Rs 14,520 per 10 gram. The rupee is currently trading at 49.8 vis-Ã -vis the dollar, appreciating 0.3 per cent during the week.

Unless and until markets in the US witness a sharp fall, the Indian stocks markets are expected to continue to rally. "Once the Q4 results have been announced, the markets are likely to move in tandem with the international environment. However, review your position in the market before the election results," suggests Sharma.