India’s Sensex Set for Best Month Since July as Foreigners Buy

(Bloomberg) -- India’s stocks headed for their best month in four on signs that foreign buying is increasing as the local currency strengthened while the price of crude oil slipped into bear territory.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 5.6 percent in November, the steepest monthly gain since July. It climbed 0.5 percent to 36,360.93 at 9:35 in Mumbai on Friday. The NSE Nifty 50 Index rose 5 percent this month. Overseas investors bought net Indian shares worth $720.1 million through Nov. 28 after three months of net selling, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Numbers

• Fourteen of the 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. gained, led by the S&P BSE Information Technology Index and the S&P BSE Realty Index, which each climbed 1.1 percent.
• Infosys Ltd. and Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd. provided the biggest boosts to the main benchmark, while Yes Bank Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. were the top performers.
• Dewan Housing Finance climbed 5.8%, while Can Fin Homes Ltd. advanced 3.2% after the central bank relaxed securitization rules for the non-bank finance sector.
• The rupee has appreciated 6.1 percent this month. Crude oil, the country’s biggest import, has fallen over 20 percent.

Strategist View

• “Rupee appreciation and the sharp fall in oil prices are substantially positive for the market as well as the economy. A falling rupee has further enhanced the prospects of stronger capital flows,” said Chokkalingam G, managing director at Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt. in Mumbai.

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