The markets opened strong after the holiday on Monday, but failed to gain further thereafter. At the end of the week the BSE SENSEX closed with gains of 92.13 points or 0.52 per cent at 17,783.21 points. The NSE NIFTY gained 20.40 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 5,386.70 points. The broader indices like the BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 gained much less at 0.29 per cent, 0.18 per cent and 0.13 per cent respectively. The BSE MIDCAP and BSE SMALLCAP were losers and closed down 0.63 per cent and 0.61 per cent respectively. The sectoral indices were a mixed bag with some gainers and some losers. The gainers included BSE IT up 3.31 per cent, BSE FMCG up 1.83 per cent and BSE METAL up 0.92 per cent. The losers included BSE REALTY down 2.59 per cent, BSE OIL down 1.21 per cent and BSE CAP down 1.19 per cent.

An appeal: (left to right) Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Law Minister Salman Khurshid address a joint press conference in which Chidambaram urged the opposition to “allow parliament to function” and break a deadlock over coalgate. Pics/AFP