Indian stocks fell 3.15 percent on Monday as investors sold ahead of the third-quarter earnings season on concerns of weaker growth, dealers said. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 296.42 points to 9,110.05, its third consecutive day of losses.
India's corporate earnings season commences with outsourcing giant Infosys Technologies on Tuesday. Shares in the fraud-hit Satyam Computers rebounded nearly 45 percent to close at 34.4 rupees, as investor confidence was boosted by a new government-installed board.
As announced last week, the Mumbai stock exchange on Monday removed the company from its Sensex index in reaction to a billion-dollar accounting scandal. The newly appointed Satyam board met in Hyderabad for the first time after the scandal, to help streamline operations and discuss future plans for the fraud-hit firm.
Investors were jittery last week after Satyam's founder and chairman B. Ramalinga Raju admitted the Hyderabad-based software services firm had falsified accounts and assets and inflated its profits over several years. In Monday's trade, losers led gainers 1,613 to 824 on turnover of 32.03 billion rupees (659 million dollars).
The rupee rose against the dollar to 48.6 from 48.92 and also against the euro to 65.1 from 66.84. The rupee has been under pressure against the dollar for several months as funds have moved money into assets regarded as safer havens.
Last year overseas funds were net sellers of Indian stocks, having sold 13.13 billion dollars for 2008, official data showed. Wipro shares fell 23.3 rupees or 9.3 percent to 227.35, a day after the World Bank said it would not deal with the company due to allegations of improper payments. The world's sixth largest steel maker Tata Steel fell 14.2 rupees or 6.62 percent to 200.3 on reports of weak demand due to the global economic slowdown.
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