According to the latest data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the foreign funds purchased Indian equity derivatives worth a net 5.77 billion rupees on Tuesday.

The number of contracts outstanding, which is also known as `open interest', rose 2 percent to 725.7 billion rupees, showed the data posted on the NSE's official website. Open interest had touched 1.6 trillion rupees on Sept. 21, 2010. On the cash segment, the foreign funds bought a net 8.8 billion rupees of shares, as per the primary data available.

India's central bank has said that it is keeping its key interest rates unchanged but took an unexpected step by reducing the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by 1 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier kept the rates unchanged at the mid-quarter review in June.

Out of a total of 20 economists surveyed by Reuters, 19 expected the RBI to keep its interest rates unchanged even as the industrialists are expecting the central bank to lose its tight control over the monetary position in the country.

Following weak industrial production data as well as a general slowdown in the economy, the government has urged the central bank of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider reducing its interest rates during its policy review on July 31.