Indian stock-index futures dropped after benchmark indexes halted a two-day loss yesterday.

SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for June delivery fell 0.1 percent to 7,656.5 at 9:45 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty Index advanced 1.3 percent to 7,631.70 yesterday, the biggest gain since June 6. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) also added 1.3 percent. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.- traded shares increased 0.3 percent.

The Sensex climbed yesterday as international investors extended purchases of Indian stocks, the highest net inflows this year among eight Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. The gauge had dropped for two straight days on concern Asia’s fastest consumer inflation may accelerate as crude oil rose and forecast for a weaker-than-average monsoon threatened to boost food prices.

“Some amount of caution is desirable primarily due to the sharp movement in prices over the past two months,” Sangeeta Purushottam, an independent market analyst, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV India yesterday.

Overseas investors bought a net $ 210.2 million of Indian shares on June 13, extending this year’s inflow to $ 9.93 billion.

India’s wholesale inflation rose 6.01% in May, the fastest pace since December, while consumer price increases accelerated to a three-month high of 8.59 percent in April.

Monsoon rains, the main source of irrigation for the country’s 263 million farmers, were 49 percent lower than the 50-year average since June 1, the India Meteorological Department said on June 16.

India will offload about a quarter of its rice stockpiles and ease restrictions on selling fruits and vegetables to stem inflation, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said yesterday.

The Sensex has jumped 21 percent this year, the largest advance in Asia, and trades at 15.7 times projected 12-month profits, compared with the five-year average multiple of 14.5. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is valued at 11 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, Phani Varahabhotla