Indian stock-index futures gained after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his cabinet amid efforts to accelerate economic growth.

The SGX CNX Nifty Index (NIFTY) futures for November delivery rose 0.2 percent to 8,408 as of 10:47 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. was little changed at 8,337 on Nov. 7. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) lost 0.2 percent to 27,868.63, retreating from an all-time high. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.- traded shares declined 0.5 percent to 1,526.95. The MSCI Asia Pacific index advanced 0.8 percent today.

Modi made new appointments to his cabinet yesterday as he seeks to boost growth and attract foreign investment. Manohar Parrikar became defense minister, allowing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who previously also held the portfolio, to focus solely on boosting the economy. In total, 21 ministers were sworn in.

“Investors will take comfort from the cabinet expansion,” Arun Kejriwal, a director at Kejriwal Research and Investment Pvt., said by phone yesterday. “The short term direction of the market will be dictated by foreign inflows, global cues and corporate earnings. The corporate earnings have been good so far.”

Modi retains control of all important policy issues and unallocated portfolios, according to a statement from the president’s office last night. His government has vowed to press ahead with amending land, labor and foreign investment laws to make it easier for companies to do business.

Earnings Beat

Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT), India’s largest engineering company, may move today. The company posted a second-quarter profit of 10.4 billion rupees ($ 169 million) after market hours on Nov. 7, beating the 9.56 billion rupees estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

State-run Coal India Ltd. (COAL) may be active. The world’s biggest producer of the fuel on Nov. 8 reported its lowest quarterly profit since listing in November 2010. Profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 declined 28 percent to 21.9 billion rupees from a year earlier. The median of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a profit of 29.8 billion rupees.

Sixteen of the 21 Sensex companies that have posted results so far have beaten or matched estimates.

Global investors bought a net $ 171 million of local shares on Nov. 5, extending this year’s inflow to $ 14.4 billion, the most among eight Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. The Sensex has risen 32 percent this year, the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest markets.

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 Phani Varahabhotla, Chan Tien Hin