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Indian stocks decline 0.2% as techs gain

Indian shares fell for a third day yesterday as top mobile operator Bharti Airtel extended losses on worries about a possible foreign purchase, but outsourcing firms rose as the rupee slid to an eight-month low.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:09 May 8, 2008
  • Gulf News

Mumbai: Indian shares fell for a third day yesterday as top mobile operator Bharti Airtel extended losses on worries about a possible foreign purchase, but outsourcing firms rose as the rupee slid to an eight-month low.

Software services companies get more than half their revenue from the United States and a weaker rupee will boost their earnings in local currency terms. Shares in top software firm Tata Consultancy climbed three per cent to Rs966.20 and bellwether Infosys Technologies gained 1.3 per cent to Rs1,843.20.

"Even without the rupee fall, IT stocks were looking good. Now that this trigger is here, I expect a five-seven per cent upside," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Stock Broking.

The benchmark BSE 30-share index eased 0.19 per cent, or 33.70 points, to 17,339.31, with 17 components losing ground.

Traders said a 4.1 per cent slide in the Chinese market on worries of inflation and economic growth weighed on the Indian market, which had started 0.2 per cent higher.

The market had risen about 19 per cent from its 2008 low in mid-March before it started to digest the gains on Monday. The index is more than 14 per cent down so far this year.

Shares in Bharti Airtel extended Tuesday's 5.3 per cent fall to close 3.6 per cent lower at Rs815.80 on concerns about how it would finance any purchase of a stake in South African telecom MTN Group.

In the broader market, 1,539 losers beat 1,159 gainers on volume of 407.8 million shares. The 50-share NSE index eased 0.18 per cent to 5,135.50.

Elsewhere in the region, Karachi's 100-Share index rose 0.32 per cent to 14,455.29, but Colombo's All-Share index edged down 0.11 per cent to 2,642.63.

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