Indian shares edged higher on Friday as strong buying by foreign investors boosted bluechips such as Larsen & Toubro and kept both indexes not too far from their record highs, although some caution was setting in about the pace of recent gains. Foreign investors have been driving the rally in Indian shares, despite concerns in global markets over the outlook for China's economy and continued military tensions in Ukraine.
Overseas funds were net buyers of $148.6 million worth of shares in primary and secondary markets on Thursday, marking a 19th buying session in the previous 20 for a total of more than $2 billion. Analysts attributed the strong foreign flows to hopes about easing inflation and an improving domestic economy. Data on Friday showed wholesale price inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.68 percent in February, while reports earlier this week showed a sharp easing in consumer inflation and a slight uptick in industrial output.
But investors are also booking profit in some of the recent gainers, with the BSE index and the NSE index ending the week with mild losses, thus snapping a three-week winning streak. The benchmark BSE index rose 0.16 percent, or 35.19 points, to end at 21,809.80 points, not far from a record high of 22,023.98 points hit on Monday. It fell 0.5 percent for the week.
The broader NSE index added 0.17 percent to 6,504.20 points, off an all-time high of 6,562.85 hit on Tuesday. The index fell 0.34 percent for the week. Domestic economy-driven bluechips led the gainers, with Larsen & Toubro Ltd up 2.4 percent, while Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd rose 2.7 percent.
Among other gainers, Infosys Ltd rose 1.1 percent after investors gauged its 8.5 percent fall on Thursday as overdone. Shares were hit in the previous session after chairman Narayana Murthy said revenue for the fiscal year ending March could grow at the lower end of the company's 11.5 to 12 percent projection. Shares in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 1.59 percent, recovering some of its 5.2 percent fall on Thursday.
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