India's stock market is likely to remain choppy, with investors booking profits after 14 straight weeks of gains - its best run in four years, dealers said Friday. This week overseas funds sold equities worth 239 million rupees and local institutional funds bought sporadically, which failed to boost the sentiment at the markets.
For the week to June 19, the Sensex index fell 4.66 percent or 716.05 points to 14,521.89, as investors locked-in gains from a three month long rally. At its recent intraday peak of 15,600 points, the Sensex was up over 90 percent from a recent low of 8,047.17 in early March.
The Congress-led government is set to present its budget in early July and its focus is expected to be on spurring growth even at the risk of a wider fiscal deficit. Investors have bet on the government also introducing reforms that would help spur investment in the financial and infrastructure sectors.
They expect aid for exporters and a further lowering of interest rates. Investors will also eye the US Federal Reserve two-day meeting next week. Analysts do not expect the US central bank to alter interest rates, but will look at policy statements closely for the economic outlook. Foreign funds have bought equities worth 5.32 billion dollars so far this year after selling shares worth 5.46 billion dollars during the same period last year.