Indian stock-index futures gained as benchmark gauges headed for a third weekly advance before the country’s new prime minister announces his cabinet next week.
SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for May delivery rose 0.3 percent to 7,316 at 10:13 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty Index added 0.3 percent to a record 7,276.40 yesterday, extending this week’s increase to 1 percent. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) climbed 0.3 percent. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares lost 0.1 percent.
India’s strongest electoral mandate in 30 years has put prime minister-in-waiting Narendra Modi in a position to pass measures to bolster Asia’s third-biggest economy, spurring optimism it will lead a recovery among the biggest emerging markets. The Sensex has risen 24 percent since Sept. 13, when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party named Modi as its candidate for prime minister.
“The market continues to consolidate and is likely to move up to 7,500 levels as news on cabinet formation trickles in,” Vinod Nair, head of fundamental research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd., wrote in an e-mail.
Modi will be sworn in on May 26. If he pursues promises to tackle corruption, India has the potential to grow about 10 percent annually for the next 20 years, according to Jim O’Neill, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Modi has also pledged to fight inflation by cracking down on food hoarders, creating a national agriculture market and improving rural infrastructure.
Earnings Reports
State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender by assets, may say profit dropped 15 percent from a year earlier to 28 billion rupees ($ 479 million) for the quarter ended March 31, according to the median estimate of 34 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Cigarette maker ITC Ltd. (ITC) may report quarterly net income of 22.4 billion rupees, compared with 19.3 billion rupees a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 28 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Overseas investors sold a net $ 36.8 million of Indian shares on May 21, the first outflow in 21 days. The pared this year’s purchases to $ 7.6 billion, still the highest among eight Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg.
The Sensex has climbed 15 percent this year and is valued at 15.1-times projected 12-month earnings, near the most expensive in three years. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is trading at 10.8 times.
To contact the reporter on this story: Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net Matthew Oakley, Chan Tien Hin