The Bombay Stock Exchange. The Sensex jumped 0.9% to 27,010.14 at close yesterday.
Bloomberg/Mumbai
Indian stocks climbed for the first time in four days, led by automakers and industrials, as weak economic data from around the world reduced the odds of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year.
Tata Motors surged the most in more than two years after its luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover reported an increase in September retail sales, while Maruti Suzuki India rose the most in two weeks. Gail India, a natural-gas supplier, advanced to a two-month high. ITC, the largest tobacco company, rallied to a six-month high, while Hindustan Unilever, the largest home-products maker, fell after its earnings missed estimates.
The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 0.9% to 27,010.14 at close in Mumbai, ending three days of losses. “There’s a little bit of optimism as surging liquidity is trying to find decent returns,” Ajay Srivastava, managing director at Dimensions Consulting, told Bloomberg TV India yesterday.
“Everything rests on global liquidity, and since there’s no sell off globally there is no need to panic for now.”
Tata Motors jumped 8.2% to Rs381.3, the most since September 2013. Jaguar deliveries rose 22% to 10,394 units in September, following the introduction of the Jaguar XE sports saloon in May.
Outstanding put options, or bearish wagers, in the stock jumped to 19,313 as of 3:57 pm in Mumbai from 14,644 contracts on Wednesday, signalling that investors bought protection as the shares rallied. Put options with strike prices of Rs360 and Rs350 were the most popular by open interest.
Bharat Heavy Electricals, India’s top power-equipment maker, climbed 3.2% to Rs211.80. Maruti Suzuki rallied 3% to Rs4,377.40, the most since September 29.
ITC gained 1.5% to Rs349.4 and Hindustan Unilever lost 0.7% to Rs791.6.
International investors bought a net $50mn of Indian stocks on October 13, taking this year’s inflows to $4bn. The Sensex has retreated 1.8% this year and trades at 15.6 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with a multiple of 11.4 for the MSCI Emerging Markets
Index.