Indian (SENSEX) stock-index futures gained before the conclusion of a Federal Reserve policy meeting today.

SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for September delivery rose 0.1 percent to 5,887 at 9:55 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. added 0.2 percent to 5,850.20 yesterday, ending three days of decline. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.3 percent to 19,804.03. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares advance 0.8 percent to 1,007.83.

Fed members will decide whether to reduce their $ 85 billion-a-month stimulus program. Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan unveils his first monetary policy decision this week after data on Sept. 16 showed inflation unexpectedly accelerated to a six-month high in August as the rupee’s slide stoked import costs.

“Investors would like to wait and watch,” P. Phani Sekhar, a fund manager at Mumbai-based Angel Broking Ltd., told Bloomberg TV India yesterday. “I don’t see the market running away from here.”

The RBI raised two interest rates in July to boost shorter term funding costs and capped cash injections into the banking system. The key repurchase rate was left unchanged after cuts earlier in 2013. Rajan will maintain the rate at 7.25 percent at the Sept. 20 review, Standard Chartered Plc and Morgan Stanley said.

Fund Flows

Overseas investors bought a net $ 50 million of domestic shares on Sept. 16, data from the regulator show. That took this year’s net inflow to $ 12.4 billion, the second-highest among 10 Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. Foreigners pulled $ 3.7 billion from local equities in the three months to Aug. 31 as capital fled emerging markets amid prospects of the Federal Reserve paring its record stimulus.

The Sensex has increased 1.9 percent this year in local currency terms and is valued at 13.8 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the five-year average of 14.1 times, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It has lost 11.5 percent this year in dollar terms. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index trades at 10.6 times.

Asia’s third-largest economy may expand 5.5 percent in the year to March 2014, versus 5 percent in the previous 12-month period, the weakest pace since 2003, according to central bank estimates. The 10-year average is about 8 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at rshaaw@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net