Sensex falls by 143.73 points during week

MUMBAI, Dec 14: The benchmark Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) declined by 280.95 points or 1.34 per cent to 20,715.58 in the week under review as gains triggered by strong performance of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in assembly elections were washed away by heightened speculation that the Federal Reserve may be about to start cutting back on its stimulus program.
The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 91.50 points or 1.46 percent to 6,168.40.
A sharp uptick in consumer price inflation in November 2013 raised the likelihood of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiking its main lending rate viz. The repo rate at a monetary policy review scheduled on 18 December 2013 also impacted the investor sentiments.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.35 percent and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.52 percent.
Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
Trading for the week began on a positive note on Monday with investors giving thumbs up to a strong performance of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in assembly elections as the Sensex garnered 329.89 points to settle at 21,326.42, a record closing high.
The Nifty also rose by 104.00 to close at 6363.90 it hit a record high of 6415.25 in intraday trade.
Key benchmark indices dropped in volatile trade on Tuesday on heightened speculation that the Federal Reserve may be about to start cutting back on its stimulus program.
The S&P BSE Sensex was down 71.16 points to 21,255.26 and Nifty by 31.05 points to 6332.85.
On Wednesday, it further lost by 83.85 points to settle at 21,171.41 as hawkish comments on inflation from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan triggered speculation that the central bank will raise its main lending rate viz. The repo rate at a monetary policy review next week.  (AGENCIES)