The indices are completing almost a month of run up from the lows of 26th May. More gains without a correction, may be hard to come by

The domestic market ended the week in the green following the government’s move to enhance FDI limits in a host of sectors and firm quarterly results from corporates. Optimism from the global markets also supported the gains. Investors will continue to focus on corporate results next week, which would lead to stock-specific action.

The Sensex gained 191 points (0.96%) to end the week above the 20,000-level mark at 20,150 and the Nifty settled at 6,029, a rise of 20 points (0.34%). The indices are completing almost a month of run up from the lows of 26^th May. More gains, without a correction, may be hard to come by.

Buying in rate-sensitive sectors lifted the market on Monday. The market closed lower on Tuesday as the RBI’s move to the reduce rupee volatility ignited worries about slowing economic growth. The benchmarks settled higher on Wednesday after the government late Tuesday decided to hike FDI limits in various sectors.

The market extended its gains on Thursday on global cues as US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said Fed's asset purchases “are by no means on a preset course” and could even be expanded should economic conditions warrant. The benchmarks closed mixed on Friday after mortgage lender HDFC’s first quarter results failed to meet market expectations and comments from the prime minister that the economy may grow slower than previously expected 6.5% for the fiscal 2013-14.

BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 7%) and BSE Oil & Gas (up 4%) were the top sectoral gainers in the week while BSE Bankex (down 6%) and BSE Realty (down 4%) were the top losers.

The major gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever (up 14%), TCS, Bharti Airtel (up 8% each), ONGC (up 7%) and ITC (up 5%). The leading losers on the index were ICICI Bank (down 10%), Tata Steel, BHEL (down 8% each), Sterlite Industries (down 6%) and HDFC (down 5%).

The top performers on the Nifty were HUL (up 14%), TCS, Bharti Airtel (up 8% each), Asian Paints and ONGC (up 7% each). IndusInd Bank (down 12%), ICICI Bank (down 10%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 9%), Tata Steel and BHEL (down 8% each) emerged as top losers on the benchmark.

Headline inflation rose to 4.86% in June from 4.70% in May, driven mainly by rising prices of food articles, especially vegetables including onion.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) late Monday came out with a clutch of measures including hiking the lending rates for banks and sucking up of Rs12,000 crore, to make the currency dearer. Under the measures announced, RBI raised lending rates to commercial banks to 10.25%, making the loans costlier. The central bank also announced that it will conduct sale of Government of India Securities to suck up Rs12,000 crore on 18^th July from the market.

The government on Tuesday liberalised Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limits in a dozen sectors, including allowing 100% in telecom and higher limits in “state-of-the-art” defence manufacturing, to boost the sagging economy. The FDI cap for civil aviation was, however, left unchanged at 49%.

The RBI on Wednesday decided to conduct a special three-day repo auction under which banks would be encouraged to raise funds totalling Rs25,000 crore at 10.25% for on-lending to the mutual funds.

In the corporate arena, TCS, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Auto’s quarterly results were in line with expectations while mortgage lender HDFC fell short of market estimates.

In international news, BRICS economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—have voiced concerns about huge capital outflows that have weakened most of their currencies and raising inflationary pressures. The Fed chairman’s announcement two months ago that the central bank may begin winding down its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases sparked a panicky selloff, particularly in emerging markets.