Sensex surges to 14-month high on govt reforms

SENSEX-NIFTY-SPICEJET-FDI-REFORMS:Sensex surges to 14-month high on govt reforms

The BSE Sensex surged to its highest in 14 months, with retailers such as Pantaloon Retail India and airlines including SpiceJet rallying after the government opened up the sectors to foreign direct investment.

India announced a slew of big-ticket reforms after the market close on Friday as the country's economy grew at the slowest pace in three years.

Foreign investors are expected to be big buyers of Indian stocks on Monday, after purchasing a net 28.3 billion rupees on Friday, their biggest single-day purchase since July 3.

The measures were a "huge signal, symbolic of the government's reform commitment and an endorsement of its recognition of the urgency to put the economy above politics, for now," Deutsche Bank said in its note.

Deutsche Bank and Citigroup each raised their targets for the benchmark BSE Sensex predicting the measures would attract stronger foreign investor flows.

The index gained 0.88 percent as of 9:53 a.m., after earlier hitting its highest since July 26, 2011. The Nifty rose 0.93 percent.

Both indexes are headed for a ninth consecutive winning session.

Airline stocks surged, with SpiceJet up 11.5 percent and Kingfisher Airlines 19.9 percent higher.

Pantaloon Retail rose 17.2 percent while Shoppers Stop added 13.3 percent.

(Reporting by Mumbai markets team; Editing by Ryan Woo)

($1 = 54.4150 Indian rupees)