Mumbai: Powered by steps taken by India and Pakistan to defuse the tense military standoff, strong stocks rally lifted the SENSEX by another 2.93 per cent over the week on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that still faced adverse activity by foreign funds.

Punters and retail investors, which had become extremely cautious on war fears, turned enthusiastic as the tension in the subcontinent began de-escalating with India lifting the six-month over flight ban on Pakistani aircraft and asking its Naval warships in the Northern Arabian sea to return to base.

Speculators were very active and focused not only on blue chip index-based counters but also cornered shares of several low-priced second-rung stocks even as foreign institutional investors (FII) which made heavy net sales of Rs 252 crore on June 10 itself, maintained low profile in the following sessions making moderate investments.

PTI