Indian (SENSEX) stock-index futures swung between gains and losses.
SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for October delivery fell 0.1 percent to 5,937.0 at 10:29 a.m. in Singapore, after rising as much as 0.7 percent. The underlying CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. added 0.1 percent to 5,882.25 yesterday. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.2 percent to 19,893.85. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.- traded shares increased 0.6 percent to 1,020.04. One-month rupee forwards climbed for a third day to 62.51 per dollar.
India’s rupee climbed for a second day yesterday on optimism the central bank will succeed in its efforts to boost the local supply of dollars and support a currency that dropped to a record low on Aug. 28. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan will add to last week’s surprise interest-rate increase after specifying he will use consumer-price inflation as the main guide for monetary policy for the first time, seven of 10 analysts said in a Bloomberg News survey.
“Investors are looking forward for further cues to decide market trend,” Nidhi Saraswat, analyst with Bonanza Portfolio Ltd., said by e-mail. “RBI has tightened liquidity in the market by increasing the repurchase rate. If it takes some more steps to bring liquidity in the market again, this would boost market sentiment and buying can be seen.”
A panel he set up after becoming governor on Sept. 4 is due to report by December on revising the monetary-policy framework.
Core inflation remains high, Rajan told reporters yesterday during a visit to Frankfurt, Germany. Domestic inflation is a better policy anchor than the exchange rate for emerging-market central banks, he said.
The Sensex has risen 2.4 percent this year and trades at 13.8 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the five-year average of 14.1 times, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is trading at 10.5 times.
Overseas funds bought a net $ 69.4 million of domestic shares on Sept. 25, data from the regulator showed yesterday. International investors have purchased a net $ 2.04 billion of the nation’s stocks this month, poised for the first monthly net inflow since May.
To contact the reporter on this story: Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net