India's Sensex Index Ends Near Year's Lowest Level - Bloomberg

Indian (SENSEX) stock-index futures advanced after four weeks of declines dragged benchmark gauges to two- month lows. SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for February delivery added 0.1 percent to 5,855 at 10:07 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index declined less than 0.1 percent to 5,850.30. on Feb. 22, the lowest level since Dec. 21. The S&P BSE Sensex Index dropped less than 0.1 percent to 19,317.01, the least since Dec. 24. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares climbed 2.4 percent. The Sensex has fallen 3.9 percent from a two-year high set on Jan. 25 as net incomes from State Bank of India to Tata Motors Ltd. missed estimates. The government is due to present its annual spending plan on Feb. 28. The fiscal deficit is expected to be about 5.2 percent of gross domestic product compared with a target of 5.3 percent, the Indian Express reported at the weekend, citing unidentified people. "Investors are hoping that government will meet its fiscal targets in the budget without additional borrowings," said Nilesh Karani, assistant vice president at Magnum Equity Broking Ltd. in Mumbai. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is under pressure to limit spending and keep his pledge to reduce the deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product in four years, from a targeted 5.3 percent for the fiscal year ending March. The government is trying to avert a credit-rating downgrade after Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings said they may demote India to junk status. The commerce ministry is scheduled to report January output growth data for eight core industries as early as today. Financial shares may be active today as billionaires including Kumar Mangalam Birla vie to set up banks in the world's second-most populated nation. The Reserve Bank of India sought applications from companies with a 10-year track record and "sound credentials and integrity" to apply for licenses by July 1, according to a statement on Feb. 22. The Sensex has retreated 0.6 percent this year, the second- worst performer among benchmark gauges in Asia's biggest markets. The Indian measure is valued at 13.7 times projected 12-month profits, the lowest level since Nov. 28, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index's 10.2 times. Stocks have fallen as 43 percent of Sensex companies posted profit for the three months to Dec. 31 that trailed estimates. That's compared with 40 percent in the previous two quarters, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Overseas funds bought a net $212 million of Indian stocks on Feb. 21, taking this year's net purchases to $8.2 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They bought $24.5 billion of stocks in 2012, the most among 10 Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg, helping drive the Sensex up by 26 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGNJ9lUt7H_bNbSW50IZ_FbXyebjA&url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-25/india-s-nifty-futures-signal-stock-gains-after-four-week-slump.html

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