India’s Stocks Fluctuate; Sterlite Declines, Dr. Reddy’s Gains

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- India’s stocks fluctuated. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. sank after metal prices fell, while Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. climbed to a record high on a report GlaxoSmithKline Plc may buy a stake in the company.

Sterlite Industries, India’s biggest copper producer, lost 1 percent. ICICI Bank Ltd. declined 2.1 percent after a three- day, 5.7 percent gain, paring its advance to 89 percent this year. Dr. Reddy’s, the country’s second-largest drugmaker, rose 3.7 percent after the Economic Times said GlaxoSmithKline is in talks to buy a 5 percent stake in the Hyderabad-based company.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, was little changed at 16,709.18 at 10:35 a.m. in Mumbai. The gauge is set for a weekly gain of 2.7 percent. It swung between gains and losses at least 12 times. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost less than 0.1 percent to 4,961.10. The BSE 200 Index added 0.1 percent to 2,047.25.

“The market will consolidate after the Nifty touched the symbolic level of 5,000 yesterday,” said Deven Choksey, chief executive of KR Choksey Shares & Securities Pvt. “But there is a lot of pent-up demand and very high liquidity, which is supporting the market.”

The Sensex’s 14-day relative strength index, which measures how rapidly prices rose or fell during the specified period, has been over 70 for the past two days. Some investors regard readings at 70 or more as a signal to sell.

Sterlite fell 1 percent to 763.75 rupees. The December- delivery contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 1.2 percent to 49,170 yuan ($7,202) a ton and traded at 49,230 yuan. Three-month delivery copper traded at $6,350 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after losing 0.6 percent.

ICICI

ICICI Bank lost 2.1 percent to 854 rupees. Its relative strength index dropped to 65 after exceeding 70 the past two days.

Overseas funds bought a net 11.7 billion rupees ($243 million) of Indian stocks on Sept. 16, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said yesterday on its Web site. The funds have bought a net 450 billion rupees of the nation’s stocks since Jan. 1, compared with record net sales of 530 billion rupees in 2008.

Dr. Reddy’s added 3.7 percent to 866.05 rupees, the highest since the stock was listed in 1991. The Economic Times said Glaxo is in talks to strengthen its association with the Indian generic drugmaker, with whom it had signed a marketing alliance four months ago. Dr. Reddy’s declined to comment.

Cargo Services

Container Corp. of India Ltd., a state-run cargo services company, rose 4 percent to 1,139.55 rupees after it was raised to “buy” from “reduce” at Nomura Holdings Inc., which said signs of improving economic conditions should allow the company to sustain “strong” earnings growth momentum over the next 12 to 15 months.

Raymond Ltd. advanced 8.1 percent to 222.2 rupees, extending yesterday’s 10 percent surge. The textile and suit maker will build “affordable” homes on as much as 20 acres of its surplus land in north Mumbai, Chairman Gautam Singhania said yesterday.