Sensex up 16 points in flat trading

The BSE Sensex edged higher on Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak as blue chips such as ICICI Bank rebounded. Yet, indexes still suffered their worst monthly performance since the rupee slumped to a record low last August.

The falls since last week have sent the NSE down 3.4 per cent for January, its worst monthly performance since August, when domestic markets had cratered. The index hit its lowest intra-day level since November on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors have sold heavily since last week, cutting their net inflows into domestic shares so far this month to only $85.4 million.

The Nifty rose 0.26 per cent, or 15.80 points, to end at 6,089.50, but fell 2.83 per cent for the week. The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.08 per cent, or 15.60 points, to end at 20,513.85, but fell 2.9 per cent for the week. For the month, the index fell 3.1 per cent.

Blue chips, especially lenders, rebounded after recent sharp losses.

ICICI Bank rose 1.4 per cent, while among state-owned banks, Punjab National Bank rose 5.8 per cent, while Bank of Baroda ended 3.2 per cent higher.

The NSE bank sub-index fell 10.1 per cent in January, its worst month since July.

Banking stocks are among those most heavily owned by foreign investors, but caution has risen after the central bank unexpectedly hiked interest rates this week although it also signalled it may be more accommodative should inflation ease.

Among other blue chips, Reliance Industries ended 0.8 per cent higher.

Software exporters gained on hopes the US demand outlook will be sturdier than other countries, dealers said.

Tata Consultancy Services rose 1.1 per cent, while Wipro gained 0.7 per cent.

Oberoi Realty rose 2.3 per cent after it said on Thursday India's apex court dismissed a lower court judgement declaring as private forest certain properties that a unit of the real estate developer wanted to develop.

Lupin rose 1.4 per cent ahead of its quarterly earnings on Monday. However, the company's operating profit may lag consensus estimates, Thomson Reuters StarMine's SmartEstimates shows.

Shares in Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeled vehicle maker, fell 1.5 per cent after it posted on Thursday a slower-than-expected 7.5 per cent rise in third-quarter profit, hurt by a rise in input costs and currency fluctuations.