Market weekly wrap-up: Sensex, Nifty decline for the seventh straight week amid elevated crude oil prices

The domestic equity benchmark indices declined for the seventh straight week as a sharp spike in crude oil prices amid the escalating tension between US and Iran dented investor sentiment The elevated US bond yields also weighed on the indicesWhat happened to the benchmark indicesDuring the week the Sensex shed 39922 points or 054 per cent to end at 7389574 The Nifty slipped 20590 points or 088 per cent to settle at 2314050Benchmark indices witnessed strong selling pressure last week as rising Brent crude oil prices and elevated US bond yields kept investor sentiment cautious Pabitro Mukherjee Deputy Vice President Research Bajaj Broking saidOn Friday indices rebounded amid slight easing in crude oil prices as the 30share BSE Sensex jumped 31520 points or 043 per cent to settle at 7389574 The 50share NSE Nifty edged up 7740 points or 034 per cent to end at 2314050Although crude oil prices ended the week lower heightened volatility kept inflation concerns elevated weighing on overall market sentiment Offsetting this Indias flash PMI estimates for September came in stronger than expected pointing to resilient activity across manufacturing and services While this reassurance on the growthinflation mix lent support to the market rising US yields pressured emergingmarket flows leaving external forces to override the domestic macro comfort Vinod Nair Head of Research Geojit Investments saidSteep fall on ThursdayThe benchmark indices plunged on Thursday declining over 15 per cent amid rising crude oil prices which jumped above USD 1054 per barrel due to geopolitical uncertainties Heavy selling in bank and financial stocks also dragged down the indicesThe Sensex tumbled 124771 points or 167 per cent to settle at 7358054 while the Nifty tanked 38370 points or 164 per cent to end at 2306310 The market ended in red as among the 30 Sensex constituents 29 declined while only NTPC remained unchangedThe index Nifty started the week on a positive note and moved higher in the first half to form an intraweek high of 23489 However a sharp decline in Thursdays session saw it give up its intraweek gains and slip below the previous weeks low with the Nifty ending at 2314050 down 09 per cent Mukherjee saidNSE gets listedDuring the week shares of NSE were listed at a 084 per cent premium to the issue price The exchange commanded a market valuation of Rs 449 lakh croreFIIs outflowsThe foreign institutional investors FIIS continued to be net sellers in the Indian equity market for the sixth consecutive week FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 11490 crore while domestic institutional investors DIIs extended their buying streak with net purchases of Rs 16398 crorePersistent foreign selling consequently dragged domestic benchmarks lower with midcaps underperforming large caps amid broader risk reduction Nair saidSectorwise performanceBank Nifty also witnessed sharp selling pressure and closed the week 14 per cent lower Broader markets dragged lower as well with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices down 21 per cent and 09 per cent respectively according to MukherjeeRealty and consumer durables drew buying interest ahead of festiveseason demand while pharma found support in its defensive earnings profile Among the laggards financial services underperformed following regulatory changes to insurance commissions while IT remained under pressure as tighter global financial conditions heightened concerns around discretionary technology spending across key client markets Nair saidOutlookThe stock market is likely to remain sensitive to crude prices according to analystsWith crude hostage to geopolitics and yields elevated valuation expansion looks constrained leaving earnings delivery as the principal driver of returns Nair saidMarket participants will track the global crude oil prices developments in West Asia and US Q2 GDP data for cues in the coming weekNext week markets will track Indias August industrial production and the federal fiscal deficit for cues on domestic momentum and the consolidation path following the sharp acceleration in Septembers flash PMIs Siddhartha Khemka Head of Research Wealth Management Motilal Oswal Financial Services said