Indian shares ended higher on Friday, led by a recovery in Tata group stocks and a rise in Tech Mahindra Ltd following its September quarter results. The benchmark BSE index ended 0.09 percent up at 27,941.51, while the broader NSE index closed 0.26 percent up at 8,638, posting its first gain in four sessions. The NSE index fell 0.63 percent this week while the BSE index shed 0.48 percent. Both indexes gained about 0.3 percent in October.
Tech Mahindra was the top percentage gainer on the NSE index, rising as much as 7.2 percent, after reporting the biggest revenue growth among its peers in the September quarter. Recovery in Tata Group stocks also helped indexes erase some of their losses in the previous sessions. Tata Motors rose 2.4 percent, contributing almost one-fourth of NSE's gains. Tata Power and Tata Steel rose more than 1 percent.
However, trading was subdued ahead of a holiday next week. Indian markets will open on Sunday for a special one-hour trading session on account of Diwali, a Hindu religious holiday, and will remain closed on Monday. Analysts said trading is expected to be muted over the next few weeks as global investors await the outcome of the US presidential elections, which could also keep domestic flows in check.
"One of the biggest factors to affect domestic markets would be foreign investments," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Securities. "We have already seen the numbers dwindle this week and I do not expect the numbers to pick up in the following couple of weeks. This, along with muted earnings expectations is likely to subdue growth," he said.
Foreign investors have sold a net $450.25 million worth of local shares so far this month, paring year-to-date inflows to $7.06 billion. Private sector lender Axis Bank, up 1.3 percent, was among the top gainers on the Nifty Bank index following two straight sessions of losses after a profit slump.
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