Most Indian stocks gained as exit polls signaling victory for the ruling party in two key state elections countered concern about slowing global growth.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS), India’s largest software exporter, was the best performer on the S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) before its earnings today. Hindustan Unilever Ltd., the nation’s top home-products maker, rose for a third day. Developer DLF Ltd. (DLFU) rebounded from a record 29 percent slump. Hindalco Industries Ltd. (HNDL), the nation’s second-largest aluminum maker, headed for a five-month low as global commodity prices tumbled.
Sixteen stocks rose while 14 fell on the Sensex, which was little changed at 26,357.52 at 12:19 p.m. in Mumbai after changing direction more than 12 times. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party will come to power in Haryana and emerge as the single largest party in Maharashtra, home to the nation’s financial capital Mumbai, according to polls released yesterday. A victory will bolster Modi’s chances of securing parliamentary approval for business-friendly laws, including more foreign investment in insurance.
“You have a thumping majority that the BJP is expected to garner in states that contribute 17 percent to India’s GDP, and have growth centers like Mumbai, Pune and Gurgaon,” Ajay Bodke, head of investment strategy and advisory with Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt., told Bloomberg TV India today. Global factors are turning “increasingly negative,” he said.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) is headed for its lowest level since March after a rout in global equities yesterday. The Sensex has slid 3 percent in the past three weeks even as Brent crude fell to a four-year low, reducing import costs for India, which buys about 80 percent of its oil.
Fund Flows
Foreigners sold $ 88.6 million of local shares on Oct. 13, taking net outflows this month to $ 297.6 million and paring the inflows in 2014 to $ 13.5 billion, still the highest among eight Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg.
“With oil at a four-year low and inflation under control, domestic cues are positive but we’ll have to wait for semblance of sanity to return to the global markets before we see buying emerge in Indian equities,” Bodke said.
Tata Consultancy will today report a net income of 53.68 billion rupees ($ 875 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, according to the median of 42 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The shares rallied 1.1 percent.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) will report a profit of 7.08 billion rupees for the September quarter, according to the median of 38 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The shares rose 1.4 percent to its highest level since Sept. 26.
Bajaj Auto Ltd. reported a 29 percent drop in quarterly net income to 5.91 billion rupees after the market close on Oct. 14, compared with an estimate of 8.58 billion rupees in a Bloomberg survey. The shares gained 0.1 percent.
Two of the 30 Sensex companies that have announced results so far have beaten estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Forty-six percent of the gauge’s members that posted earnings for the June quarter beat or matched forecasts. That compares with 60 percent in the previous three months, the data show.
DLF surged 5.4 percent. The shares fell 29 percent on Oct. 14 after the company and its billionaire chairman were barred from raising funds by the regulator for failing to disclose information during its 2007 initial public offering.
Hindalco tumbled 3.4 percent to 145.80 rupees, paring this year’s gains to 19 percent. Copper producer Sesa Sterlite Ltd. lost 2.5 percent to its lowest level since May 19.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at rshaaw@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Richard Frost at rfrost4@bloomberg.net Ravil Shirodkar, Phani Varahabhotla