(Bloomberg) -- India's benchmark stock index fluctuated between gains and losses after rising to a two-week high as industrials and utilities countered an advance in energy companies.
Asian Paints Ltd. dropped from a three-week high, while Tata Motors Ltd., owner of Jaguar Land Rover, fell for a second day. Refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. tumbled the most in three months, while Bharat Petroleum Corp. headed for a two-month low after oil prices soared. Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's largest producer, rallied to a five-month high. Gail India Ltd., a natural-gas supplier, rose to a three-month high.
| Index | Change | Size and Scope |
|---|---|---|
| BSE Sensex | +0.1% | Changed direction five times |
| BSE MidCap | -0.5% | Biggest drop in two weeks |
| BSE FMCG | +0.4% | Highest level since Nov. 11 |
Indian stocks rose for four days through Wednesday as emerging markets recovered from a selloff that followed Donald Trump's shock U.S. election victory. Friday's U.S. payrolls data and the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on Dec. 7 are the next focal points for local investors who are still grappling with the government's currency crackdown even as they wait for capital outflows to abate. Global funds pulled $2.6 billion from domestic shares last month, the most since August 2015.
“Gains will be hard to sustain in a market that's undergoing short-term pain,” said Rajesh Kothari, managing director at Mumbai-based Alfaccurate Advisors Pvt. “Indian equities will remain volatile as investors await local monetary policy and the Fed rate decision.”
Indian equities were battered in November, with the Sensex posting its worst month since February, on concern the government's recall of high-value currency bills will hurt demand in an economy where almost all consumer payments are in cash. Gross domestic product, which expanded a slower-than-estimated 7.3 percent in the September quarter, will contract to 6.5 percent over the next three months, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 14 economists.
To contact the reporters on this story: Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net, Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeff Sutherland at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net, Ravil Shirodkar, Andreea Papuc
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