MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's stock markets were little changed on Thursday and became the third best performing in Asia Pacific so far this month amid resumption of buying by foreign investors, while forecast of a timely monsoon stoking rate-cut hopes continued to support sentiment.
Shares have risen nearly 3 percent so far this month, after foreign portfolio investors, key behind stocks hitting record highs in March, bought cash shares worth nearly $345 million in the past four sessions.
They had sold about $2.5 billion worth of shares over the last four weeks amid delay in key reforms and tax worries stoking concerns that heavy foreign ownership has become a key risk for equity markets.
Profit-booking in some blue chips after shares rose to near one-month high in the previous session, and lower Asian shares kept trading rangebound.
"India's overownership worries due to lower free float have week legs. Anybody with even a modicum of intelligence would be long on India," said Samir Arora, founder and fund manager at Helios Capital from Singapore.
"Earnings have also been fine and monsoon is on schedule," he added
The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.06 percent, while the broader Nifty was lower 0.09 percent.
Investment bank Citi has set its June 2016 target for the BSE Sensex at 35,000, expecting an upside of nearly 26 percent from current levels.
Among blue-chip stocks, Larsen & Toubro
Bajaj Auto
(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
