A surge in banking shares helped Indian stocks end higher on Friday, as investors digested a policy shift by the US Federal Reserve to focus more on boosting economic growth and worry less about inflation running too high.
The gains cap a strong week for India’s main stock indexes, which have now climbed for six straight sessions amid signs of a pick-up in business activity and greater investor interest in beaten-down sectors such as banking, metals and real estate.
The NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.76% higher at 11,647.60, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed up 0.90% at 39,467.31. The Nifty 50 has gained 5.2% in August so far.
The top five boosts to the Nifty 50 were all banks. The Nifty banking index ended 3.9% higher and with a 10% gain, it has clocked its best weekly gain since May 29.
Axis Bank jumped 7.6% and IndusInd Bank 9.9%.
Other global stocks struggled for direction as investors worried about a lack of detail in the US Federal Reserve’s policy shift that aims for 2% inflation on average so that too low a pace would be followed by an effort to lift inflation “moderately above 2% for some time.”
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