India’s Sensex Index Fluctuates; Reliance Gains, Hindalco Falls

Oct. 29 （Bloomberg） -- India’s benchmark stock index fluctuated. Reliance Industries Ltd. rose while Hindalco Industries Ltd. fell.

Reliance Industries, the nation’s most valuable company, advanced to the highest level in six months. Hindalco, the biggest aluminum producer, dropped 1.4 percent as raw material prices dropped. Housing Development Finance Corp., the biggest mortgage lender, lost 1.2 percent ahead of a Nov. 2 Reserve Bank of India monetary policy decision.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, was little changed at 19,950.03 at 10:19 a.m. in Mumbai after swinging between gains and losses at least eight times. The measure, which has lost 1.2 percent this week, is set for its first monthly decline in five.

“The mood is cautious ahead of the next week’s monetary policy” meeting said D.K. Aggarwal, who manages about $100 million as chairman of SMC Wealth Management Services Ltd. in New Delhi.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange added 0.1 percent to 5,991.75. The BSE 200 Index was little changed at 2,539.84.

Reliance gained 1.7 percent to 1,099.8 rupees, on course for its highest close since April 13. NTPC Ltd., the biggest power producer, gained 2 percent to 198 rupees.

Borrowing Costs

Hindalco lost 1.4 percent to 213.2 rupees. Sterlite Industries （India） Ltd., the No. 1 copper and zinc producer, decreased 0.6 percent to 169.4 rupees. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, lost 1.5 percent to 595 rupees.

Copper declined as much as 1 percent on the London Metal Exchange on concern that a recent rally in prices slowed purchases in China, the world’s largest consumer. Aluminum in London fell 0.6 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates five times this year to cool the pace of price increases.

Overseas investors were net buyers of Indian equities for a 41st day on Oct. 27, the longest streak on record, according to the nation’s market regulator.

Global funds bought a net 977 million rupees （$22 million） of shares, extending this year’s record inflows to 1.135 trillion rupees, the Securities & Exchange Board of India said.

Central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao warned this week that near-zero interest rates in developed nations are fueling “speculative” capital flows into emerging markets, heightening the risk of asset bubbles.

--Editors: Margo Towie, Richard Frost.