The Asian markets put up a good performance during the week gone by. It is believed that a variety of factors such as regional bank earnings, stress test results of US banks, and an expansion in Chinese manufacturing activity boosted optimism amongst investors.

INDIA: Indian markets continued the rally of the previous week and completed the ninth straight week of gain. Trading remained volatile throughout the week. After a four-day long weekend the market on the very first day of the week witnessed a sharp gap-up opening and rallied more than 5% on that same day. For the rest of the week the market remained volatile with both side movements. The market, however, closed the week with a weak undertone on profit booking at higher levels, shrugging off about 2% gains. On a week-on-week basis, the BSE Sensex gained 473 points or more than 4% to close at 11876.43.

The Indian indices, on the others hand, remained the lowest gainers as the BSE-Sensex rose by only around 4% as compared to last week.

Other Asian Market: Other Asian indices such as Singapore (up 17%), Hong Kong (up 12%), China (up 6%) and Japan (up 5%) ended the week on a stronger note.

Major Global Market: As far as other global markets are concerned, they ended the week on a firm note as well, with Brazil (up 9%), UK (5%), and France (5%) leading the pack of gainers. These were followed by the US (up 4%) and Germany (up 3%).