India’s benchmark equity index recouped early losses to rise yesterday as drugmakers gained. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.7% to 35,689.60 at close in Mumbai, posting a weekly gain for the fifth week, the longest such stretch since April. Fifteen of 19 sectoral sub-indexes compiled by the BSE advanced, led by a gauge of healthcare companies. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was the best performer on the main index, rallying to a four-month high.
The Sensex is still up 4.8% so far this year, ranking among the world’s best performers, helped by domestic fund buying as overseas investors sell.
“India has largely been an outperformer among major emerging markets as local inflows have helped offset the foreign selloff,” said Abhimanyu Sofat, vice president at India Infoline in Mumbai. “Investors are keeping a close watch on the Opec meeting as oil is a major import, and also for the impact on currency in light of the trade spat between the US and China.”
Brokerages are getting more positive on India’s pharmaceutical sector. Sales in the US have stabilised sequentially and commentary on pricing pressure is improving, CLSA analysts including Mahesh Nandurkar wrote in a June 13 note. The S&P BSE Healthcare index is up 10% in June, its biggest monthly gain in four years.
Opec inched closer to an agreement that would allow an oil- supply increase after positive talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran. “The benchmark index has a positive bias but recovery in broader market is equally essential,” Jayant Manglik, president at Religare Broking, said by e-mail. “Private banking and financials will do well along with select pharma and FMCG stocks.” 
Meanwhile the rupee closed stronger against the US dollar for the third straight session yesterday after local equity markets gained over 250 points.
The rupee ended at 67.83 against US dollar, up 0.24% from its previous close of 67.99. 
The home currency opened at 67.85 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 67.71 and 67.88 respectively.
So far this year, the rupee has weakened 6.1%, while foreign investors have sold $1.15bn and $5.64bn in equity and debt markets respectively.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 7.82%, from its Thursday’s close of 7.774%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Asian currencies were trading mixed. South Korean won was up 0.33%, Philippines peso 0.13%, Malaysian ringgit 0.06%, Japanese yen 0.03%. However, China renminbi was down 0.17%, China offshore 0.14%, Thai baht 0.09%, Indonesian rupiah 0.04%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.781, down 0.09% from its previous close of 94.862.