Indian indices are still possibly gathering energy for a short upmove but the market is highly overbought

The BSE 30-share Sensex closed the week that ended on 21st March, at 21,753.75 (down 56 points or 0.26%), while the NSE’s 50-share Nifty closed at 6,493.20 (down 11 points or 0.17%) for the week.

On Monday, Indian financial markets were closed on account of Holi. On Tuesday both the Sensex and the Nifty hit their all time highs but could not sustain at that level and gave up all the intra day gains. Nifty closed at 6,517 (up 12 points or 0.19%).

Goldman Sachs upgraded Indian shares to "overweight" from "marketweight" and raised its target on Nifty to 7,600. It also recommended investors to focus on potential election beneficiaries. On the other hand, factory production in the US rose in February by the most in six months. The 0.8% gain at manufacturers followed a revised 0.9% slump in the prior month that was the biggest since May 2009, figures from the Federal Reserve showed.

On Wednesday lower forward guidance by Tata Consultancy Services affected the market which ignored the positive data coming from the US. On Wednesday, Nifty closed at 6,524 (up 7 points or 0.11%).

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services on Wednesday said that Indian companies are improving their credit profile by selling equity and assets, or using free operating cash flows to reduce debt. U.S. housing starts fell for a third straight month in February, but a rebound in building permits offered some hope for the housing market. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday groundbreaking slipped 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000 units.

The gains of previous three consecutive sessions (ending Wednesday) were wiped off by the negative move on Thursday. The weakness was after the recent US Federal Reserve's policy statement hinted towards the prospect of interest rates rising sooner than anticipated. Nifty closed at 6,483 (down 41 points or 0.63%).

With the positive data from the US and Fitch Ratings affirming its credit ratings at "AAA" helped the global indices get some relief. Nifty closed at 6,493 (up 10 points or 0.16%).

For the week, among the other indices on the NSE, the top two performers were Media (4%) and Metal (3%) while the worst two performers were C P S E (3%) and PSE (2%).

Among the Nifty stocks, the top five stocks for the week were Maruti Suzuki  (7%); Hindalco Industries (7%); Tata Steel (6%); Wipro (4%) and Jindal Steel & Power (3%) while the top five losers were Mahindra & Mahindra (6%); G A I L (5%); O N G C (5%); I D F C (4%) and B P C L (4%).

Of the 1,420 companies on the NSE, 795 companies closed in the green, 575 companies closed in the red while 50 companies closed flat.

Out of the 27 main sectors tracked by Moneylife, top five and the bottom five sectors for this week were: