India's blue-chip equities are expected to surge higher in the coming sessions on institutional buying in shares of heavyweight companies like Reliance Industries on improved quarterly earnings performance.

Analysts and stock market traders say bulk investors will also closely track the pattern of foreign institutional investment (FII) inflows into the domestic trading ring before firming up trading strategy for the week ahead.

The stock market barometer 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index or Sensex closed Friday at 6,215.42, representing a gain of 41.60 points or 0.67 percent over its previous week's close.

The market closed in the positive zone for the week after posting losses in the last two previous weeks as investors adopted a cautious approach after investing heavily in old as well as new economy shares.

"The stock market mood is cautiously turning positive after witnessing large-scale profit booking in the last couple of weeks," said Neeraj Deewan, an equity market analyst with brokerage firm Quantum Securities.

"In the coming sessions, the stock market mood will be greatly boosted by the robust quarterly numbers announced by heavyweights like Reliance Industries and ITC," Deewan told.

"Investors will also closely track the results of other blue-chip new as well as old economy companies in the week ahead before pouring more money on the counters."

India's October-December quarterly earnings season, which got off to a flying start with industry leaders like Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services posting impressive numbers, is set to reach the peak in the days ahead.

Investors closely track financial results of companies like Infosys and Reliance to get an idea of the overall industry health.

Corporate behemoth Reliance Industries, which accounts for significant weightage in the Sensex, Friday greatly boosted investors' sentiment by impressive financial numbers.

Reliance Industries said Friday its Oct-Dec quarterly net profit grew by a better than expected 52 percent as the demand for its petroleum products soared in the domestic markets and refining margins improved.

The company, which manages in Gujarat the world's third largest oil refinery, said its profit in the quarter ended Dec 31, 2004, rose to Rs.20.91 billion ($481 million) as compared to Rs.13.74 billion logged in the year-ago period.

Over three million Indians, mostly from the middle class, own Reliance Industries shares. Reliance group patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with creating an equity cult in the country.

In the intra-week trade, the stock market opened for the week Monday on a cautiously positive note with last-hour buying in heavyweight stocks helping the index to end in the positive territory.

The market finished lower for the next two consecutive sessions as investors booked profit in heavyweight equities amid worries about foreign fund inflows.

Fears about a slowdown in the inflow of FIIs into the domestic trading ring fuelled the selling pressure.

Massive foreign investment inflows in Asia's fourth-largest economy on hopes of sustained higher economic growth and corporate earnings had taken the benchmark share market index to a level not seen before last month.

Foreign funds had collectively put a record over $8.5 billion in the Indian capital market in the last calendar year, up from $6.5 billion worth of inflows in the previous year.

The stock market closed for the week Thursday with moderate gains on fresh institutional buying in shares of firms like tobacco giant ITC even as cement stocks plummeted.

The market was closed Friday for Eid.