|
| Sensex gains 189 points, led by Maruti Suzuki, SAIL |
| Bloomberg / Nov 17, 2009, 00:33 IST |
|
Indian stocks rose, led by steel and car makers, after the government said sales of the alloy to auto manufacturers rose in the first seven months of the financial year.
Maruti Suzuki India, the maker of half the cars sold in India, gained 4.3 per cent after Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi said on November 14 that the nation’s steel demand grew 7 per cent from April to October, underscoring the economic revival.
Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country’s second-largest steel maker, advanced 3.1 per cent, climbing for the second day after the government said it will sell shares in the company.
“With every passing month and quarter the numbers are better than what we saw,” said Krish Shanbhag, the head of research at Antique Stock Broking Ltd in Mumbai. “All data is pointing that we are well on our way to economic recovery.”
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, added 189.31, or 1.1 per cent, to 17,038.14 at 12:07 pm in Mumbai. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange gained 1.2 per cent to 5,057.7. The BSE 200 Index climbed 1.3 per cent to 2,118.51.
Maruti Suzuki advanced 4.3 per cent to Rs 1,541.5. Increasing demand for automobiles, refrigerators and air conditioners and rising farm incomes are boosting steel sales in India, the world’s second fastest-growing major economy. The nation’s industrial production in September rose 9.1 per cent from a year earlier, according to November 12 government data.
Steel Authority gained 3.1 per cent to Rs 187.9. India plans to begin selling stakes in state-owned Steel Authority and NMDC Ltd this financial year, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said at an industry conference in Kolkata on November 14.
Public Offer
The proposed equity sale in New Delhi-based Steel Authority may be followed by a public offer of shares by the company, Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi said at the event. The two offerings may raise as much as Rs 16,000 crore ($3.5 billion) and the government may receive about half that amount, he said.
Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, the No 1 copper and zinc producer, rose 3.4 per cent to Rs 866 after a judge in Texas ruled that Grupo Mexico SAB can regain control of its bankrupt US copper miner, Asarco LLC, rejecting a competing offer from Sterlite.
UltraTech Cement Ltd gained 1 per cent to Rs 737.5 after saying it will merge with Samruddhi Cement Ltd to create the country’s biggest and the world’s 10th-largest maker of the building material.
Overseas funds bought a net Rs 151 crore ($33 million) of Indian stocks November 12, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said on its Web site. The funds have bought Rs 71,310 crore of Indian stocks this year to date, compared with record net sales of Rs 53,000 crore for the whole of 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
