India's stock market index breaches 50,000 for first time

Mumbai: India's benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index climbed above 50,000 points for the first time - as the gauge extended its longest weekly winning streak in over a decade.

The index rose 0.6 per cent to 50,096.57 as of 9:09 am in pre-market trade in Mumbai. The measure has logged 11 straight weeks of gains after touching successive new highs.

The rise in the index has been fueled by foreign buying, with overseas investors pouring $2.6 billion into Indian equities in January after record net purchases last quarter. Prospects of a bounce back in earnings after the economy reopened following coronavirus-triggered lockdowns have spurred investor confidence.

Still, India's central bank has cautioned of a widening "disconnect" between "certain sections of the financial markets and the real economy." Gross domestic product is forecast to shrink the most since the 1950s, while estimates compiled by Bloomberg show the Sensex is expected to remain little changed over the next 12 months.