A week of strong gains for the markets

Rex Mathew
28 May 2005

Indian markets opened on a positive note on Friday as the US and other Asian markets continued their rally from the previous week. Strong gains in IT stocks like TCS and Satyam helped the indices to close the day with decent gains.

On Tuesday, the markets were more uncertain and were a little volatile. The bounce back in crude prices and the futures settlement due later in the week held the markets in a nervous state. The indices finally managed to close with gains.

Wednesday saw the indices extending their gains into the third day as IT stocks helped the markets to maintain the momentum. SAIL was another major gainer ahead of its results announcement.

Markets opened on a weak note on Thursday as oil continued it's up trend and US markets cooled a bit. Short covering on the last day of settlement in the futures segment changed the mood dramatically by afternoon and the indices closed with strong gains.

The sensex crossed the 6,700-mark again after a few months on Friday. Strong buying was seen till late in the afternoon when a sudden bout of selling saw the indices plunging dramatically.

Mid cap stocks were volatile during the week. The CNX Mid-cap 200 touched all time highs during the first party of the week and the index closed above the 3,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday. Heavy selling on Friday saw the index declining below the 3,000-mark and closing the week with marginal gains of under a per cent.