(Bloomberg) -- India’s benchmark equity index clocked its best weekly gain in a month, helped by a revived appetite for risk among investors amid a mixed start to the October-December company earnings season.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.8% this week, its best such gain since the five-day period ended Dec. 20. The gauge closed little changed at 41,945.37 in Mumbai. The NSE Nifty 50 Index was also steady. The S&P BSE Midcap Index advanced 0.5%, rising for a ninth session, the longest stretch of gains since November 2017.
Inflows into Indian equity funds rebounded in December after three months of declines as the nation’s benchmark stock index climbed to a series of record highs. Stock plans took in 45 billion rupees ($630 million) last month, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
Reliance Industries Ltd., the nation’s biggest company by market capitalization, and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Asia’s most d software services provider, are scheduled to announce results today.
Strategist View
“We see a renewed interest from retail investors in buying select quality mid and small cap stocks helping drive gains in the broader market,” said Chokkalingam G, founder of Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt. in Mumbai. “Earnings season is likely to be a mixed bag and, so far, there hasn’t been any major negative surprise.”
The Numbers
- Fourteen of 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. rose, led by a gauge of energy companies.
- A sub-index of banks was the worst performer after telecom companies, one of their big borrowers, failed to get court relief on $13 billion dues.
- Vodafone Idea Ltd. plunged 25% on the court order, while its larger peer, Bharti Airtel Ltd. added 5.5%.
- Reliance Industries Ltd contributed the most to the Sensex advance, increasing 2.8% while Bharti Airtel had the largest gain
- HDFC was the biggest drag on the index, declining 1.1% while IndusInd Bank had the biggest drop, falling 2.5%
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