Indian stocks retreated for the third day before the release of consumer inflation and factory production data today.
Tata Motors Ltd. (TTMT), owner of Jaguar Land Rover, fell to a four-week low. Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI), India’s largest mobile-phone operator, slid 1.7 percent. Engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT) had its steepest three-day slide in four months.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.7 percent to 21,030.79 at 9:44 a.m. in Mumbai. Consumer-price inflation probably rose 10 percent in November from a year earlier, after increasing 10.09 percent in October, according to a Bloomberg survey before data due after the market shuts today. A separate survey showed industrial output may shrink 1.2 percent in October.
“Investors will watch out for cues from key data like industrial production and consumer inflation for further market direction,” said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.1 percent today amid concern the U.S. budget deal and signs of a stronger American economy will give the Federal Reserve confidence to start paring stimulus that has boosted inflows to emerging markets.
Overseas investors bought a net $ 70.4 million of Indian (SENSEX) equities on Dec. 10, extending this year’s inflows to $ 18.5 billion, the most in Asia after Japan, data from the market regulator show.
The Sensex climbed to a record Dec. 9 after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the state elections, giving it momentum to end the ruling Congress party’s decade-long rule in polls due by May and install Narendra Modi as prime minister.
The gauge has climbed 8.5 percent this year, the best performer among the four largest emerging markets, and trades at 13.7 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index’s 10.5 times.
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
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