Market review: Indian equities remain weak as Brexit impact wanes, results in focus

Indian equity market closed flat in the week-ended on July 8. Though the week, market sentiment remained mixed as investors gauged the impact of Brexit. The traders also remained cautious the earning season for the April-June quarter kicked off. 

The 30-share benchmark, Sensex closed down 18 points, or 0.07% at 27,126.90. While the 50-share index, Nifty 50 ended down 5.15 points, or 0.06% at 8323.20. On Wednesday, the equity and currency markets remained shut on account of Eid.

Early in the week, Sensex touched an 8-month high of 27,385.66 on the back of an 'above average' monsoon outlook. 

However, the gains didn't last long as data showed that the services sector growth in the country slowed to a seven-month low in June as new orders continued to soften.

The Services PMI indicated that activity in the sector fell to 50.3 in June from May's 51, its 12th month above the 50 mark. A number above 50 indicates expansion in the sector and a number below 50 indicates contraction.

One of the key market movers in the week was the Rs 16000 crore UltraTech - JP Associates deal. Aditya Birla Group company agreed to acquire Jaiprakash Associates' cement plants of 21.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity.

Once it comes through, UltraTEch will become the largest cement producer in the country and JP Associates will cut its debt.

Another prominent event in the week was the Union Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the addition of 19 new ministers and a change in portfolios of many. However, this didn't have a lasting impact on the markets in the week.

In Nifty 50, among the top gainers of the week included Hindustan Copper (14.88%) buoyed by a Rs 2523-crore Mumbai Metro Rail contract bagged by the company and its joint venture with MMS of Russia. NBCC India gained 13.88% in the week on the back of Rs 587.47 crore in new business secured in June. other top gainers included Allahabad Bank (11.81%), Punjab National Bank (11.73%), Cadila Health care (9.76%).

On the same benchmark, among the top losers during the week were, Maruti Suzuki (0.10%), Hero MotoCorp (0.28%), Power Grid Corporation of India (0.39%), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (0.47%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.50%).

The stocks that saw the most activity in terms of the number of shares exchanging hands in the day, ACC Ltd. (down 1.08%) with the volume 2,001.72, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (up 1.22%) with volume traded 24,513.02, Ambuja Cements (up 2.06%) with volume 16,216.15, Asian Paints (up 0.83%) with the volume 12,005.18, Aurobindo Pharma (up 4.56%) with the volume 21,238.58.

According to SAMCO Securities, in the coming week, the market is expected to rest a while before beginning its upward ascent. The ongoing monsoon in the country will keep the market going, it said. 

With Infosys' results lined up in the upcoming week, the result season will be in full swing.

On Monday, L&T Infotech is scheduled for an IPO to raise over Rs 1,200 crore. The issue price of the IPO has been fixed at Rs 705-710. 
SAMCO said, L&T Infotech's debut in the markets is expected to garner record-breaking over subscriptions.
"The current bull market has a long way to go before culminating into a final bull market top. There would be all-round frenzy; e-commerce and online businesses would line up for IPO’s, and that would probably be the ultimate bull market top which is years ahead," said the report.