India: Stocks Rise for 2nd Day.

India's BSE Sensex added 638 points, or 0.75%, to close at 85,567.5 on Monday, marking the second day of advances, as investors’ sentiment remained positive amid foreign fund inflows and hopes of further Fed rate cuts next year. Foreign portfolio investors bought Indian shares worth INR 37.76 billion in the last three sessions, trimming December's outflows to INR 120.2 billion. Market sentiment was further supported by the December RBI meeting minutes, in which policymakers highlighted downside risks to growth and deflationary pressures, signaling additional room for future rate cuts. Among individual stocks, Trent led the gains, rising 3.9%, followed by Infosys (+2.8%), Bharti Airtel (+2.3%), Tech Mahindra (+1.7%) and Tata Motors DVR (+1.7%). Other notable gainers included Maruti, Sun Pharma, BEL, HCL Tech and TCS, up more than 1% each.