Indian shares rose for a fifth consecutive session to a three-week closing high on rising hopes for fiscal reforms after Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said India will have to hike the price of heavily subsidised fuels such as diesel in the near term. State-owned oil marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp were among the day's leading gainers, while financial firms such as ICICI Bank also advanced on hopes fiscal reforms would spur the central bank to cut interest rates.
Despite being disappointed in the past, investors remain hopeful the government will soon announce fiscal reforms given India is under threat of being downgraded into a sub-investment grade ratings by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
---- BSE index hits 3-week high; NSE near 5,400
Investors also retain their confidence on recently-appointed Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who is so far seen as having sent the right signals on reforms. "Chidambaram is the person who will do things, but we don't have the political space to do something very bold," said V.K Vijayakumar, an investment strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
"If 4-5 rupees hike in diesel price happens, that will be big short in the arm for the markets. If that happens 5,600 on the Nifty will be taken soon," Vijayakumar added, though he does not expect other reforms such as further opening up the retail or aviation sectors to foreign investment. India's benchmark BSE index rose 0.49 percent, or 86.17 points, to 17,852.95, marking its highest close since August 21.
The 50-share NSE index ended up 0.52 percent, or 26.55 points to 5,390, inching closer to the psychologically key level of 5,400. Shares in Indian state-owned oil marketing companies held on to their gains after Oil Minister Reddy said the country would have to hike the price of heavily subsidised fuels. Hindustan Petroleum Corp gained 2.6 percent, Bharat Petroleum Corp rose 2 percent, and Indian Oil Corp Ltd ended up 0.5 percent.
Financial firms rose on hopes fiscal consolidation steps would spur the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates, since central bank officials have repeatedly called on the government to shore up its finances. Home loan provider Housing Development Finance Corp gained 2.5 percent, while ICICI Bank rose 1.2 percent. Among the day's other gainers, Panacea Biotec Ltd surged 20 percent, hitting its maximum daily limit for a second day, after saying it would jointly develop with US-based Osmotica Pharmaceutical Corp at least 18 branded and generic drugs Shares in Hero MotoCorp fell 1.21 percent on worries the two-wheeler maker will have to cut production after an industry report on Monday said sales fell 11.9 percent in August.
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