Indian Stock Markets Register Best Weekly Gain in Six Years Led by Heavy Inflows

Indian equities extended their winning streak to seven straight sessions, with the Nifty50 surging 8.58% for its biggest weekly percentage gain in about six years. The rally crossed multiple milestones ahead of Diwali, adding nearly 28 lakh crore rupees to investor wealth and pushing the combined market value of BSE-listed companies to around 503 lakh crore rupees.

Market Gains And Top Performers

The Nifty50 jumped nearly 1,978 points during the week to close above the 25,000 level, while the Sensex rallied nearly 9% to finish above 81,000. Shriram Finance led the gains with a rise of nearly 17%, followed by Bajaj Finance and M&M with increases of over 15% each. HDFC Bank added around 14%, and Reliance Industries rose over 13%. On Friday alone, the Sensex climbed 1,718 points to reach 81,028, and the Nifty gained 493 points to end at 25,030.

Driving Factors And Foreign Inflows

The sharp upward move came after months of selling pressure driven by West Asia tensions and energy concerns during August, September, and October. Foreign institutional investors poured around 31,000 crore rupees into Indian equities between Monday and Thursday through the NSE, reversing previous record outflows. Supporting factors included a drop in Brent crude to around 98 dollars per barrel, a stronger rupee moving above 94.00, and a global retreat in technology stocks following US midterm election results.

Context

Indian stock markets often experience significant volatility around festival seasons, influenced heavily by global commodity prices and foreign fund movements due to the country's high dependence on imported crude oil. Special trading sessions like the upcoming Diwali Muhurat trading are a long-standing tradition on Indian bourses to mark the start of the traditional Hindu calendar year.