India Shares End Slightly Higher; Gain 2.9% In Week

MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--Indian shares traded volatile to end slightly higher Friday as wary investors exercised caution ahead of a long weekend.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index was up 0.2%, or 30.19 points, to 16,741.30, with 18 of the 30 index constituents ending higher. The index, which has risen 2.9% this week, traded between 16,610.05 and 16,765.03 during the day.

"The market is fundamentally positive, but technically overboard, so minor corrections are happening. But we are not expecting any major downturn as of now," Alex Mathew, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

"In the near-term markets will remain stable and may trade around 17,000 levels," he added.

The Sensex has risen 8.5% over the past 10 sessions from its Sept. 3 close of 15,398.33 - its lowest close so far this month. The index has more than doubled from its March 6 low of 8,047.17.

"The movement in the market has been quite sharp and all the good news is factored in. Investors will be cautious now," Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equity at Religare Securities, said.

On the National Stock Exchange, the 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty closed up 10.50 points, or 0.2%, at 4,976.05.

Indian markets will be closed Monday for a local holiday.

Total traded volume on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell to INR62.73 billion, from INR93.93 billion Thursday. Gainers beat decliners 1,394 to 1,358, while 94 stocks were unchanged.

Investors lapped up shares of Reliance Infrastructure after the stock lagged the Sensex by more than 5% in the past month. Reliance Infrastructure rose 4.5% to INR1,243.15.

Auto stocks extended gains for a second day, with Maruti gaining 5.2% to end at INR1,640.85, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 1.8% to INR885 and Hero Honda rose 0.9% to INR1,678.50.

ICICI, India's largest private lender, fell 3.4% to INR843.35, while HDFC Bank was down 0.8% at INR1,523.60. Link...