Indian stock-index futures swung between gains and losses before the expiry of derivatives contracts tomorrow.

SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for June delivery rose less than 0.1 percent to 7,593 at 10:16 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty Index advanced 1.2 percent to 7,580.20 yesterday. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) climbed 1.4 percent, the biggest gain since June 6. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares fell 0.5 percent.

Indian derivatives expire on the last Thursday of every month. The government presents the federal budget on July 10, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he’s prepared to take unpopular steps to revive an economy growing at near the slowest pace in a decade and curb retail inflation averaging about 10 percent in the past two years. India’s monsoon rains have been 38 percent below normal since June 1, the country’s meteorological department said yesterday.

“The monsoon progress and the budget will be the two most important triggers for the markets,” Dipen Shah, head of private-client group research at Kotak Securities Ltd., wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

The monsoon is the main source of irrigation for India’s 263 million farmers. Late rains will cause “considerable” planting delays, U.S.-based MDA Weather Services said yesterday, threatening to boost food prices and hamper the government’s attempts to rein in Asia’s fastest consumer inflation.

Pension Funds

Shares of Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM) may be active today. The mobile-phone operator said yesterday it had started a share sale to large investors, and a warrant issue to repay debt. It set an offer price of 142.13 rupees a share, compared with yesterday’s closing price of 151.35 rupees.

The Finance Ministry is proposing to lift the ceiling on pension-fund investments in stocks, which could free up to 1.5 trillion rupees ($ 25 billion), the Economic Times reported today.

Overseas investors sold a net $ 30.1 million of Indian shares on June 23, paring this year’s inflow to $ 9.84 billion, the most among eight Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg.

The Sensex has surged 20 percent this year, the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest markets, and trades at 15.6 times projected 12-month profits. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is valued at a multiple of 11.

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

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net Matthew Oakley, Phani Varahabhotla