Indian stock-index futures gained after benchmark gauges capped the longest winning streak in more than three months.
SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for July delivery rose 0.4 percent to 7,712 at 9:30 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty Index added 0.3 percent to 7,684.20 yesterday. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) also climbed 0.3 percent. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares lost 1 percent.
International investors have poured $ 11.8 billion into Indian stocks this year, the most in Asia, betting that a new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will revive economic growth and curtail inflation. First-quarter earnings at four of the six Sensex companies that have reported results so far have beaten analyst estimates.
“Continued buying from foreign investors boosted the market,” Nidhi Saraswat, senior research analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd., wrote in an e-mail yesterday.
Foreign funds bought $ 97.6 million of local stocks on July 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Shares of mobile-phone operator Idea Cellular Ltd. (IDEA) may be active. The company reported after market hours yesterday a 57 percent jump in first-quarter group net income to 7.28 billion rupees ($ 120.7 million), beating analyst estimates.
Lender Axis Bank Ltd. (AXSB) may say profit rose 19 percent from a year earlier to 16.8 billion rupees in the three months ended June 30, according to the median estimate of 33 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Asian Paints Ltd. (APNT) may say net income increased 18 percent to 3.23 billion rupees, according to the median estimate of 24 analysts.
The Sensex has surged 21 percent this year, the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest markets, and trades at 15.7 times projected 12-month profits, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index’s multiple of 11.1.
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, Chan Tien Hin