Broader markets outperform, key economic data in focus

The broader markets outperformed even as the benchmark indices gained marginally for the second straight week amid stock specific action while select rate sensitive sectors gained shrugging off the central bank's stance to keep key policy rates unchanged   Commodity Trading Tips

In the week ended August 7, the 30-share Sensex ended up 122 points or 0.4% at 28,236 and the 50-share Niftyclosed 32 points or 0.4% higher at 8,565.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index ended up 285 points or 2.5% at 11,558 and the BSE Small-cap index closed 274 points or 2.3% at 12,104.

"There is lot of stock specific action mostly in fundamentally sound mid-cap shares post good April-June quarter earnings while large caps continue to remain sluggish. PSU banks continue to witness buying interest on the proposed capital infusion by the government. Meanwhile, investors are likely to adopt wait-and-watch stance ahead of the key economic data to be released next week," said Vaibhav Sanghavi, Director, Ambit Investment Advisors   Stock Market Tips

The Reserve Bank of India at its third bi-monthly Monetary Policy early this week kept the repo rate unchanged at 7.25% and also kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4%.

The decision by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation to invest in equities through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) boosted sentiment during the week. An ETF is a security that tracks an index, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange.

Further, the weather department forecasted that the country's southwest monsoon during the remaining two months (August-September) would be below normal at 84% of the long-period average because El Nino weather conditions have strengthened.

Steel stocks had a firm grip during the week marked with volatility on reports that the government may hike the import duty on long and flat steel products to curb imports especially from China. Sluggish export demand has also added to the woes of domestic steel companies. Tata Steel, JSW Steel and SAIL ended 6-10% higher   Nifty Trading Tips

Pharma shares provided the much needed booster dose in the latter half of the week after Dr Reddy's Labs announced a strategic tie-up with Amgen – one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies - to market and distribute three Amgen medicines in India in the areas of oncology and cardiology. Dr Reddy's Labs ended nearly 5% higher