Mumbai, Oct 2 : India's benchmark index rallied for the fifth consecutive week, led by continued inflow of funds from foreign institutional investors on the back of positive cues from global markets and robust economic growth outlook.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) surged nearly two percent or 400 points to 20,445.04 points. This is the fifth consecutive week of gains at the Indian bourse.

The benchmark Sensex rallied 375.92 points or 1.87 percent to close at 20,445.04 Friday, the highest level since Jan 14, 2008. Sensex has gained over 12 percent in the last one month. This is the sharpest rally in the market in five months.

Overseas funds invested Rs. 1,825 crore Friday, the first trading day of this month after putting about Rs. 23,600 crore in September.

On the first day of October, buying support was across the board as all 13 sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed in the positive territory. Realty, metal, consumer durable and IT stocks saw bulk of the buying.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty also rallied nearly two percent in the week's trade. The index closed 1.88 percent higher at 6,143.4 points Friday.

Broader markets also ended with gains. The BSE midcap closed 1.6 percent higher and the smallcap index 1.54 percent up. The market breadth was positive with 1,993 scrips advancing, compared to 984 stocks declining and
122 remaining unchanged.

The major gainers Friday on the Sensex were HDFC, up 5.13 percent at Rs. 175.35; BHEL, up 4.29 percent at Rs. 2,590.10; TCS up 4.08 percent at Rs. 960.20; and Hindalco Industries, up 3.81 percent at Rs. 204.25.

There were only two losers: Hero Honda, down 0.43 percent at Rs. 1,8423.85, and Bharti Airtel, down 0.2 percent at Rs. 365.15.

Global markets ended the week mixed. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.39 percent higher at 10,829.70 points and S&P 500 ended the week 0.44 percent up at 1,146.24 points.

FTSE 100 closed 0.80 percent higher at 5,592.90. The German DAX declined 0.28 percent down at 6,211.34 and the French CAC 40 fell 0.62 percent to close at 3,692.

Among the other Asian markets, the Japan's Nikkei moved up 0.37 percent to close at 9,404.23 points.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended the week 1.72 percent higher at 2,655.66. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.09 percent down at 22,358 points. (IANS)