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Indian shares surge over 1.5 pct to snap 3-day losing streak; banks lead
* BSE index gains 1.58 pct; NSE ends 1.56 pct higher
* Indian bonds rally; cbank raises $3.3 bln in record
auction
* Foreign flows, earnings key factors next week
By Abhishek Vishnoi
MUMBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose more than
1.5 percent on Thursday to snap a three-day losing streak as
lenders such as ICICI Bank (NYSE: IBN - news) surged on value buying,
earnings expectations and hopes of gains in bond portfolios
after the central bank's biggest debt auction.
Indian government bonds jumped on Thursday, recovering from
two sessions of falls, after the central bank fully sold the 200
billion rupees ($3.31 billion) worth of debt on offer.
Investors say Thursday's surge shows the uptrend in Indian
equities continues, supported by expectations of a turnaround in
the domestic economy and on hopes the Bharatiya Janata Party,
India's main opposition which is seen as more business friendly,
would come to power.
Foreign flows and January-March earnings will continue to
set the direction for the markets as India's five-week long
election continues, with voting in Mumbai scheduled for April
24.
Overseas investors sold Indian shares worth 446.9 million
rupees ($7.4 million) on Wednesday, provisional exchange data
shows, marking their third consecutive session of outflows.
"India is an island of growth among the emerging markets.
India is clearly standing out on macros. The market is reacting
positively in the hope of better governance," said Dipak
Acharya, equity fund manager at Baroda Pioneer AMC.
The benchmark BSE index rose 1.58 percent, or
351.61 points, to end at 22,628.84, while ending flat for the
week.
The broader NSE index gained 1.56 percent, or 104.10
points, to end at 6,779.40, marking a weekly gain of 0.05
percent.
Indian markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday
holiday and on Thursday, April 24 for elections.
The NSE Bank index surged 1.8 percent after
falling nearly 3 percent in three straight days of declines, led
by a 3.3 percent gain in ICICI Bank and a 2.3 percent rise in
Axis Bank (BSE: AXISBANKSL.BO - news) .
Among state-run banks, State Bank of India (BSE: SBI.BO - news) gained 3
percent, while Punjab National Bank (BSE: PNB.BO - news) rose 2 percent.
Reliance Industries rose 1.9 percent a day before
its earnings report.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gained 1.2 percent
after its CEO said the company expected a further rise in
revenue growth in the new financial year.
HCL Technologies (BSE: HCLTECH.BO - news) gained 0.9 percent after the
company reported better-than-expected net profit for the
January-March quarter on the back of increasing demand for
outsourcing services.
MindTree Ltd surged 2.3 percent after the company
on Wednesday said its January-March net profit rose 24 percent
to 982 million rupees ($16.3 million).
Piramal Enterprises Ltd ended 1.5 percent higher
after it agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in unlisted Shriram
Capital Ltd for 20.14 billion rupees ($334 million), increasing
its foothold in the financial services sector.
Shriram Capital is the holding company for the Chennai-based
Shriram group, which controls Shriram Transport Finance Co Ltd
and Shriram City Union Finance, which ended
3 and 1.4 percent higher, respectively.
Tata Global Beverages Ltd gained 4.6 percent after
Deutsche Bank (Xetra: DBK.DE - news) started coverage on the company with a "buy"
rating and a target price of 200 rupees, calling it a
"turnaround story,".
Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd surged 5.7 percent
after broker CLSA started coverage on the stock with a "buy"
rating and a target price of 302 rupees.
Among stocks that declined, United Spirits Ltd
fell 0.6 percent on profit-taking, having risen 12.3 percent in
the previous two sessions after Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) , the world's
biggest spirits maker, on Tuesday launched a $1.9 billion bid to
nearly double its stake in the company.
For additional stocks on the move double click
FACTORS TO WATCH
* Dollar hurt by Yellen's low rate stance
* Brent crude oil rises to nearly $110 on Ukraine tensions
* Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) , IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) cast shadow
* Foreign institutional investor flows
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs
ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:
Pan-Asia........ Japan....... S.Korea...
S.E. Asia.......
Hong Kong... Taiwan....
Australia/NZ....
India....... China.....
OTHER MARKETS:
Wall Street ....
Gold ....... Currency..
Eurostocks.....
Oil ........ JP bonds...
ADR Report .....
LME metals. US bonds..
Stocks News US.. Stocks News Europe
DIARIES & DATA:
Indian Data Watch Asia earnings diary
U.S. earnings diary European diary
Indian diary Wall Street Week Ahead
Eurostocks Week Ahead
TOP NEWS:
For top Asian company news, double click on:
U.S. company news European company news
Forex news Global Economy news
Technology news Telecoms news
Media news Banking news
Politics/General Asia Macro data (Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
