Indian blue-chips post best week in nearly three months

BENGALURU: Indian benchmarks ended flat on Friday, but logged their best week since early February, driven by gains in financials and metal stocks.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex ended the session 0.05% and 0.01% lower, but gained 2.2% and 2.02% on the week.

Seven of the 13 major sectors ended in the green.

Heavyweight financials advanced 1.7% during the week, posting the second straight weekly gain. Top Nifty gainer HDFC Bank added 3.6% in its best week since early April.

The weekly rise in Indian benchmarks was fuelled by foreign investors dialling back bearish bets on domestic equities ahead of the June 4 election results, as well as the Reserve Bank of India’s record dividend to the government.