India's stock market will continue to track global trends and may consolidate next week with the benchmark index at a near 16-month high, dealers said. During the week to September 18, the 30-share Sensex index rose 2.93 percent, or 477 points, to 16,741.3 points, a level not seen since May last year.
The markets were choppy by the end of the week but continued to edge up on hopes of improved second-quarter earnings data from Indian companies. The earnings season commences next month with software exporting giant Infosys Technologies. "Investors were not creating fresh positions ahead of a long weekend. The markets are firm and await quarterly results," said Alex Mathews, head of research with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Fund managers will track the US Federal Reserve's two-day meeting next Tuesday, awaiting outlook from policy-makers on the US economy and its path to recovery.
Investors will also track monsoon activity with the rains reviving in parts of India after drought gripped big swathes of the country. Indian shares have been on the rise since March, buoyed by domestic and international economic data pointing to signs of a recovery. Foreign funds have bought equities worth 9.85 billion dollars so far this year after selling shares worth 8.38 billion dollars during the same period last year.