Indian shares rose for the sixth straight session on Tuesday, their longest winning streak in more than six months, closing 0.9 percent higher as attractive valuations propelled buying, especially in large cap stocks, but dealers said there was not much steam left in the rally.
Lenders and outsourcers led the charge. The 30-share BSE index closed 0.94 percent, or 177.66 points, higher at 19,120.80 points, with 26 components advancing. The 50-share NSE index ended up 0.9 percent at 5,736.35 points. However, in the broader market, declining shares outnumbered advancing ones in the ratio of 1.6:1, on a volume of 377 million shares on the BSE, higher than the 30-day daily average volume of 275 million shares.
Foreign funds have pulled out $1.3 billion from Indian equities, sending the benchmark index 6.8 percent lower so far in the quarter. If the index ends the quarter in the red, it will be its first quarterly decline in two years. The index is already up 7.3 percent this month after declining 2.8 percent and 10.6 percent in January and February respectively, and looks to be on track to post its best monthly performance since September 2010. Expectations that India's economic growth story was intact and would in turn boost demand for loans, pushed financials higher.