Sensex remains flat in truncated week

On the sectoral front,the two sectors that showed the maximum gains were Consumer Durables (up 3.56 per cent) and Power (up 1.79 per cent). Said Divya: “The consumer durables index rose because sales of companies in this sector have been good in the ongoing festive season. The power index was driven mostly by the rise in the stock of NTPC. This stock rose because of the government’s announcement that it will allow NTPC to sell 10 per cent of its output at market-determined prices. This decision is expected to boost the company’s profits. The announcement helped other power stocks rise as well. Another piece of positive news from the power sector was that Reliance Power’s 300 megawatt plant at Rosa in Uttar Pradesh started generation.”

The major laggards this week were healthcare (down -1.78 per cent) and FMCG (down -1.17 per cent). According to Divya,”Stocks belonging to these sectors were overbought,and hence there was selling pressure on them.”

One important piece of news this week was that the food inflation number came in at a very high 19.83 per cent. The market is expecting a hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) soon in order to suck out excess liquidity from the system and prevent food inflation from spilling over into a broader inflationary phenomenon.

Next week,the stock market timings are set to increase: trading will begin at 9 a.m. instead of 9.55 a.m. JSW Energy will debut on the bourses on January 4.