 "Stocks gain after worst year since 2011")
Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, rose for a third day this week to become the top gainer on the S&P BSE Sensex this week. State Bank of India, the nation's biggest lender, halted a three-day decline. Carriers InterGlobe Aviation, Jet Airways India and SpiceJet all rallied more than eight per cent each after the region's costliest fuel prices were cut to the lowest in five years.
The Sensex gained 0.2 per cent to 26,160.90 at the close in Mumbai, after changing directions at least 15 times. The gauge rose for a third straight week, rising 1.3 per cent during the period. The broader S&P BSE 200 Index rose 0.4 per cent on Friday and 1.4 per cent this week.
"We believe 2016 should be much better than 2015 especially because we are seeing the signs of economic recovery setting in," Mahesh Nandurkar, a strategist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Mumbai, said in an interview to Bloomberg TV India. "There are quite a few high-frequency monthly economic indicators which are trending up."
CLSA is overweight on shares of software exporters, private lenders and automobile companies, Nadurkar said. The Sensex slid five per cent last year, after rising 30 per cent in 2014, as the euphoria over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic agenda waned and concern grew that tighter US monetary policy will curb the appeal of higher returns offered in emerging markets. Global investors bought $3.1 billion of Indian shares in 2015, the smallest inflow in four years.
The Nifty 50 Index added 0.2 per cent, with volume 56 per cent less than the 30-day average. Most major global markets are shut Friday for the New Year holiday.
"We are seeing lower participation as most people are away on holidays and the global markets are shut,"
A K Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital Market Services in Mumbai, said by phone . "The greenshoots of the Modi government's policies should be visible this year and global growth is also likely to be better."
Maruti Suzuki India, the biggest carmaker, on Friday said its December sales rose 8.5 per cent, while Mahindra & Mahindra, the largest tractor maker, reported a four per cent increase in vehicle sales.
Tata Motors climbed 2.7 per cent after declining 20 per cent last year. Coal India, the world's biggest miner of the fuel, increased 1.3 per cent to take this week's gains to 3.7 per cent.
NTPC, India's biggest power producer, slipped after climbing for 11 days, the longest winning streak on record. Tata Steel, the biggest producer of the alloy, retreated 0.9 per cent to extend last year's 35 per cent plunge.
International investors sold a net $2.7 million of local stocks on Wednesday. The Sensex trades at 15.6 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with a multiple of 11 for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.