Indian shares head for first weekly gain in four

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex, reversing its 2-day rally, on Wednesday fell nearly 382 points to close at over a two-month low of 25,482.52, as worries persisted due to a deteriorating global risk environment and investors waited for US Fed minutes of the last policy meeting.

At 8.24 am (IST), SGX Nifty was down 16 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 7,840.

Dr Reddy's laboratories rallied more than 2 percent after recent steep losses.

Indian shares look set to open sharply higher on Thursday after the Modi government announced a slew of measures, including a 10 percent stake sale in Coal India, an IPO for the Cochin Shipyard, a three percent interest subvention scheme for SME exporters, revival of stalled road projects and investment in railway projects.

The broader NSE index ended 0.18 percent higher after gaining as much as 0.81 percent earlier in the day. The possibility of a rate hike in December by the US Federal Reserve will keep the market players on their toes.

Indian shares made modest gains on Friday but recorded their first weekly gain in four as consumer goods stocks rose after a panel recommended a 23.55 percent pay hike for current and former government employees.

Besides equities, the rupee too was battered in the day's trade.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) stayed in exit mode as they net sold shares worth Rs 768.46 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Across the board, for the large part, stocks are trading flat with the exception of GAIL(India). The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.86%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

Dipen Shah, head of private client group research, Kotak Securities, said, "Markets ended a volatile week with gains of about 1 per cent, buoyed by expectations of progress in the passage of important reform bills in the winter session of parliament". Bajaj Auto surged the most, up 3.33 per cent, while Vedanta Ltd, HDFC, Infosys and Maruti Suzuki all supported the upside.

The S&P BSE FMCG index receded by 65.71 points, banking index declined by 28.51 points and realty index was down 3.37 points. The stocks advanced by 5% and 3.8% in the week.