India's broader NSE index ended steady on Friday as investors booked profits, but posted its third consecutive monthly gain as well as the best quarter in almost three years. The NSE index advanced 3.3 percent this month after hitting a record high of 9,218.40 on March 17. For the quarter it rose 12.1 percent, its best showing since April-June 2014. On Friday, the NSE ended flat at 9,173.75, while the benchmark BSE index fell 0.09 percent to 29,620.50. Both indexes gained 0.7 percent for the week.
For the quarter, the NSE index rose 11.9 percent, its best performance since the April-June quarter of 2014 when Modi was elected to power. In the 2016/17 fiscal year so far, the NSE has surged 18.5 percent, rebounding from an 8.9 percent fall in the previous financial year.
On Friday, private lender HDFC Bank was trading 1.7 percent lower, sliding for the first time in four sessions and the top percentage loser among financial stocks on the index. The Nifty Bank index, which ended Thursday at a record closing high, and the Nifty Finance index each fell as much as 0.7 percent.
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