Maruti, M&M drive markets up to 14-month high

Indian stocks rose, driving the benchmark index to its highest in more than a year. Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra were lead gainers after saying they sold more vehicles last month.

Maruti Suzuki, the maker of half the cars sold in India, climbed to a record as vehicle sales climbed 33 per cent in July from a year earlier. Sterlite Industries, the largest producer of copper, gained to a seven-week high after a measure of six metals traded in London jumped 1.7 per cent on July 31.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 253.92, or 1.6 per cent, to 15,924.23. The index swung between gains and losses at least 10 times after falling as much as 0.4 per cent in early trade. The measure climbed 8.1 per cent last month as the first-quarter results of 23 of the 30 companies on the Sensex beat analysts’ estimates.

“The good earnings by Sensex companies have added to the confidence of investors,” said Deven Choksey, chief executive of KR Choksey Shares & Securities. “Markets will see an upside going forward,” he said.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange added 1.6 per cent to 4,711.4, crossing the 4,700 level for the first time since June 3, 2008. The BSE 200 Index increased 1.7 per cent to 1,941.93.

Maruti gained 4.1 per cent to Rs 1,471.9, the highest since it went public six years ago. Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s biggest maker of sports utility vehicles, soared 7 per cent to Rs 918.9 after saying it sold 22,463 vehicles in July, compared with 18,407 a year earlier, according to an e-mailed statement from the company.

Rural demand
An increase in rural demand as a result of government spending was helping drive demand in some sectors such as auto manufacturing, said Navneet Munot, chief investment officer at SBI Funds Management in Mumbai, who oversees an equivalent of $7.3 billion in assets.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s administration, which returned to power without the help of communist allies in May, plans to sell shares in some state-run companies and is boosting a rural jobs programme that’s lifting demand in rural areas.

Sterlite rose 4 per cent to Rs 670.7. Tata Steel advanced 4.9 per cent to Rs 485.2. Hindalco, the biggest aluminum producer of the country, jumped 8 per cent to Rs 108.3.

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange climbed as much as 4 per cent to $5,946.75 a tonne, the highest since October 3 as signs of easing global recession bolstered demand for commodities.