India's Sensitive Index rose, led by Reliance Industries Ltd. after the nation's most valuable company had its price forecast raised by Morgan Stanley.
``Reliance's business models are robust,'' said R.K. Gupta, who manages the equivalent of $86 million of stocks at Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi. ``Its retail venture is a fast growing business.''
Bajaj Auto Ltd., the nation's second-biggest motorcycle maker, gained after its rating was raised by Deutsche Bank AG, which increased its valuation for the automaker's insurance business.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 195.90, or 1 percent to 19,786.68 as of 10:49 a.m. local time. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange climbed 69.70, or 1.2 percent to 5,917. Nifty futures for November delivery added 1.1 percent to 5911.
Reliance added 34.35 rupees, or 1.3 percent, to 2,698. Morgan Stanley raised the stock's price estimate by 25 percent to 3,150 rupees a share and its earnings forecast by 4 percent for the year ending March 31, 2008.
The key reasons for the upgrade were news flows on exploration and production business, including pricing contracts being signed, retail business being executed ahead of expectations and higher global refining and petrochemical margins, Vinay Jaising, an analyst at Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients today.
Bajaj rose 45.1 rupees, or 1.9 percent, to 2,440. Deutsche raised the automaker's rating to ``buy'' from ``hold'' and increased the price estimate by 29 percent to 2,825 rupees a share.
Deutsche analyst Srinivas Rao revised the valuation of Bajaj's insurance business by from 389 rupees to 1026 rupees. The announced split of Bajaj Auto should unlock value in the insurance business through its listing, Rao said in a note to clients today.
Overseas investors sold a net 7.61 billion rupees ($188.8 million) worth of Indian shares on Nov. 2, according to the latest information on the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Web site.
The following shares rose or fell. Stock symbols are in brackets after company names:
MSCI Index Changes: DLF Ltd. (DLFU IN) and Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. (STLT IN) will be added to the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index from Nov. 30, MSCI Barra said in a statement posted on its Web site yesterday. Companies may benefit from inclusion because funds that track the index will buy the stock.
DLF, India's biggest property developer by market value, added 18.8 rupees, or 2.1 percent, to 933.85. Sterlite, the nation's largest non-ferrous metals company, gained 29 rupees, or 2.9 percent, to 1,020.
Aksh Optifibre Ltd. (AKOP IN) rose 2.9 rupees, or 5 percent, to 61.35. The Indian optical-fiber maker plans to sell 5 million warrants at 63 rupees apiece.
Biocon Ltd. (BIOS IN) climbed 7.1 rupees, or 1.3 percent, to 570. The country's biggest biotechnology company may acquire a U.S-based drug marketing company, the Mint reported, citing people it didn't identify.
Jupiter Bioscience Ltd. (JPO IN) added 0.8 rupee, or 0.5 percent, to 177. The Indian drugmaker's board of directors will meet Nov. 14 to consider restructuring its equity capital, the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange yesterday.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL IN) gained 3.7 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 250. India's second-largest state-run refiner wants to buy BG Group Plc's stake in a company that distributes natural gas to households in Mumbai, the Financial Express reported, citing a letter written by the refiner to India's oil ministry.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MM IN) added 6.15 rupees, or 0.8 percent, to 749. India's biggest maker of sport-utility vehicles may have bid the highest for Italian automobile gear-maker Metalcastello SpA, the Economic Times reported, citing people it didn't identify. Mahindra may have offered 105 million euros ($152 million), the report said.
