Telecom and commodities help Sensex rebound

Mumbai: India's stocks rose from a six-week low, led by telecommunications companies and commodity producers, after the government quashed concern it would delay an auction of 3G licences and metals prices advanced.

Bharti Airtel Ltd advanced the most in two weeks after Telecommunications Minister Andimuthu Raja said the auction of airwaves for third-generation mobile-phone services will be held as planned in January. Hindalco Industries Ltd., the biggest aluminum producer, climbed 3.9 per cent.

"There were some fears that the auction may not happen on time," said Kishor Ostwal, managing director of CNI Research (India) Ltd., a publicly traded equities research provider in Mumbai.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained 90.80, or 0.6 per cent, to 16,692. The gauge had closed at its lowest since November 10 on Monday. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange rose 0.7 per cent to 4,985.85. The BSE 200 Index increased 0.8 per cent to 2,099.19.

Bharti gained 3.8 per cent to Rs321.95, while its larger rival Reliance Communications Ltd. rose 1.6 per cent to Rs171.55.

Idea Cellular Lt added 2.3 per cent to Rs58.35. Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. advanced 1.2 per cent to Rs26.05.

Hindalco added 3.9 per cent to Rs142.45. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the No 1 copper and zinc producer, climbed 0.8 per cent to Rs806.3. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, advanced 3.8 per cent to Rs577.2.