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Third Day of Gains for India Equities as Investors Eke Out Value

Sensex climbed 0.3% to 39,886.01 as of 10:19 a.m. in Mumbai, after swinging between a drop of 0.1% and an advance of 0.4%.

Third Day of Gains for India Equities as Investors Eke Out Value
A man looks toward a screen and an electronic ticker board outside the Bombay Stock Exchange building in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Indian equities capped a third day of gains as investors picked out value in a market that’s one of the region’s best-performers this year.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.4% to 39,950.46 at the close in Mumbai, paring a larger gain, and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude.

India’s key equity indexes have added more than 10% so far this year amid national elections that last month gave a stronger mandate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fanning speculation that his government will bolster the slowing economy. Concerns about any shortfall in India’s monsoon rainfall and the U.S.-China trade war curbing growth may temper further gains.

Strategist View

  • “The way the market is priced right now, we expect very little downside or upside,” said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, group chairman at Inditrade Capital Ltd. in Mumbai.
  • The global trade war, progress on India’s rainfall, the government’s federal budget expected next month, and how the economy recovers will now be “watched carefully” by investors, he said.

The Numbers

  • Seventeen of the 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. rose, paced by a gauge of metal stocks.
  • Twenty-four of the 31 Sensex members climbed, while 33 of the 50 Nifty stocks gained. Tata Motors Ltd.’s 2.7% gain was the steepest among Sensex firms, that halted a four-day losing streak at India’s top truckmaker. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. fell 3% after the nation’s biggest drugmaker was downgraded to sell at Goldman Sachs & Co.
  • Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. slid 8% after the mortgage lender denied an allegation that its chairman had siphoned off funds.

Analyst Notes/Market-Related Stories

  • It’s Too Early to Call All Clear on India Midcaps, Top Fund Says
  • Indian Funds Looked Beyond Defaults, Adding Some Finance Stocks
  • HDFC Downgraded to Neutral at Nomura; PT 2,300 Rupees
  • EM Stock Rally Faces More Resistance as Trade War Simmers: Chart

To contact the reporter on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Margo Towie, Naoto Hosoda

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