With Indian stock markets recording a five percent gain in the week ended Nov 11, on the back of a similar upsurge the week before, trading in the ensuing sessions is expected to be range bound, but with a positive view.

After scaling an all-time intra-day peak of 8,821.94 points Oct 5, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had been on a downswing for the next three weeks, losing close to 13 percent.

But in the past two weeks it staged a smart recovery, despite some profit-taking and corrections as it move along, to close Friday at 8,471.04 points that meant a gain of 1.95 percent during the day and 4.93 percent over the week.

"One important thing to remember in the rallies staged during the past two weeks is that they were accompanied by profit taking and corrections by investors even as the overall mood remained positive," said an equity market analyst.

"This trend is expected to continue in the sessions ahead since no investor will like to caught unawares by a dip in values without real cash profits in hand," the analyst, who works for a leading brokerage here, added.

Traders said the sentiments during the past two weeks were also perked up by the return of foreign institutional investors into active buying, not just in blue chip and heavyweight stocks, but also in mid-cap and small-cap counters.

As per data released Saturday by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the market's watchdog, foreign funds that were net sellers in October to the tune of $840 million, turned net buyers in November with $311 million as on Friday.

"An analysis of the investments made by foreign and domestic shows a paradox of sorts. Domestic mutual funds were net buyers worth $680 million when foreign funds were net sellers of $840 million in October," an equity researcher said.

"By contrast, domestic funds have been net sellers to the tune of $75 million in November, compared to net purchases of $311 million by the foreign funds. It is evident that domestic funds are booking profits as the markets move ahead," he said.

Markets opened on a strong note Monday and the Sensex ended with a gain of 1.66 percent or 134.66 percent over the previous close. The bull-run continued the next day with the index recording a similar gain of 1.35 percent or 135 points.

Wednesday, however, saw some wild swings, and the index - which fluctuated both ways in a range of 136 points - ended with a marginal decline of 9.02 points or 0.11 percent.

The story repeated itself the next day, albeit with a milder fluctuation in the range of 77 points - and the index closed virtually unchanged. Bulls were once again in control Friday and the Sensex ended with a 1.95 percent or 162 points.

The bellwether index, which had closed at 8,072 points a week ago, ended Friday at 8,417.04 points, to register a net gain of 398.29 points or 4.93 percent for the week.

Among the major gainers during the week were: Bharat Petroleum, up 15 percent, Bharat Heavy Electricals, up 13.6 percent, Hero Honda, up 12.6 percent, Asea Brown Boveri, up 12.3 percent and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, up 10.9 percent.